Up the Creek
by SpookySkeletons119
Summary: A kind hearted young woman ventures into the Mount Massive Asylum in the hopes of exposing the Murkoff corporation and ending their inhumane experiments. Out of necessity, she makes unusual allies and tries to live with her decisions. This is eventual WalriderxOFC.
1. Chapter 1

**(This story was redone, there were many minor changes made, mainly fixing spelling mistakes, better chapter separation, and better writing overall. Since the chapters are longer, there are less of them now, so I had to delete the "leftover" ones, sorry about that.)**

 **Please read author's note: This is a story I put together from a bunch of ideas that were floating in my mind for a long time, but it wasn't written with the purpose of sharing, and I was very hesitant to share it for a number of reasons. I'm mainly posting it because a friend encouraged me to, so here goes. Please be advised that this story contains graphic violence, gore, rape, attempted rape and freaky 'ghost' sex. Don't read if those things bother you too much. Also, I've written very little in my life, so sorry if this is bad. But please do let me know what you think about it.**

 **One last thing, the story does contain some paranormal elements, I tried to keep things as logical as possible to a certain extent but not everything is 100% like in the canon of the game, just so you know not to read if you don't like that aspect.**

 **Proofreading done by SultryGamer/Ralleia on fanfiction dot net and ao3 respectively.**

* * *

Conspiracy theories. She _loved_ them. From assassinations to aliens to inside jobs, she was addicted to them. Alyssa didn't believe all of them, naturally, but she definitely enjoyed reading and researching them, even more so after a number of them were unveiled to be truthful.

As fascinating as she found them, there were definitely some she hoped were not true, especially the Murkoff Corporation conspiracy theories. The Murkoff Corp had reopened the abandoned Mount Massive Asylum for the criminally insane some years ago, under the guise of charity. The whole official story stank of deceit and concealed morbid motive, especially considering Murkoff's reputation as greedy manipulative corporate thugs who didn't hesitate using unethical tactics to meet their goals.

Reports of heinous and illegal human experiments on the asylum's patients directed by Murkoff employees reached the news a few times, but never the big websites or on TV, it was always small local places, regardless of how shocking the allegations and the supposed evidence was. The fact that many of Murkoff's employees were not allowed contact with their families and friends during their employment and signed some of the strictest non-disclosure agreements with the harshest penalties were more red flags that people discussed but were unable to do anything about.

During one lonely bored night of browsing the web, Alyssa gathered some of her courage, and after double checking the black tape on her webcam and laptop microphone, she followed a few questionable links into the mostly uncharted territory known as the deep web. While she didn't know a lot about online security, she knew just enough to protect herself to a certain extent. Still, she didn't like spending time on the deep web and generally avoided it, as there were far too many shady individuals and businesses there for her liking, and her computer and webcam were far from hack-proof.

Avoiding the riskier clicks, she finally found what she was looking for, the leaked hidden camera footage taken by a Murkoff employee whose conscience had finally gotten to him, and which she herself had been postponing to watch. She mentally prepared herself and hoped it was going to be substantial evidence that could be used against the corporation through the legal system, although she didn't have high hopes for that, since if it was indeed solid material able to be used in court and expose them, she surely would have heard about it on the news.

Due to her hobby, she had watched a number of disturbing videos and read some horrific reports that made sleep difficult at times, but nothing too mentally scarring just yet, so she hoped this wasn't going to be too unsettling to witness either. Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly clicked the play button; the footage wasn't high definition, she expected so, considering the very small and concealed nature of the camera used, but it was discernible.

The video was a three minute long compilation of what appeared to be mental patients being treated in less than humane manners inside what strongly resembled the Mount Massive Asylum. Their physical state already raised concerns, there were many visible scars, large and jagged, what looked like unhealed exposed wounds, some infected, bruises and old dirty bloody bandages, she thought she even saw some missing teeth. Some of the patients were filmed acting bizarrely, as if they had been heavily drugged to the point of losing awareness and understanding of their surroundings and situation.

The behavior of the nurses and doctors was something else she found unsettling, the medical personnel were acting as if they were training and tending to animals, animals that they hated, cared nothing for the wellbeing of, and only wanted answers from them, answers that they were unable to give.

Alyssa swallowed and shook her head lightly. Reading the articles she found associated with the video, she learned that the footage had been sent to the police and used in court not long ago, but while it rattled Murkoff's public reputation even more and added fuel to the conspiracy theory fire, their brilliant lawyers and connections had made short work of the trial, making excuses veiled as reasonable explanations, attempting to convince the judge that the events didn't even take place inside Mount Massive, and some people even thought the judge and jury were bribed or threatened. She knew better than to rule that out.

"How do you bastards sleep at night…" she whispered to herself and turned her chair away from the computer. She hated this. She always hated seeing people or animals being abused while no one could help, but it seemed so much worse to her when the abused were mentally ill people, vulnerable and unable to defend themselves.

 _It's easy to forget it's not a normal asylum… Mount Massive is for the criminally insane… The people in there have committed crimes, but they're mentally ill, it doesn't mean they should serve as lab rats and be abused while the rest of the world either doesn't have a clue or couldn't care less. No one deserves that…_

Sometimes she wondered if she was too soft for her own good, and it was frustrating, sometimes she wished she could forget about it all and carry on with her life like everybody else, but something had been nagging at her conscience for too long. She had debated with herself whether or not she should investigate Mount Massive Asylum in person for several months now, every leak and rumor about the horrors of that place was another push in that direction, but she couldn't lie to herself, the truth was that even the mere thought of approaching the asylum frightened her.

From her research, she was well aware of how tenacious and ruthless corporations can be when pursuing not just whistleblowers, but also anyone who feels like snooping around where they don't belong; the bigger and richer the corporation, the more dangerous and ruthless it was, and Murkoff was massive, filthy rich, powerful and resourceful, with an international reach, she knew they would not shy away from punishing not only the offending person, but also their family and friends as well, if they deemed it a necessary extra mile to drive home their message.

Alyssa didn't currently live with her family, she had recently moved to their fairly small, moderately lavish vacation home, not due to any family drama, she simply preferred to have some extra space to herself for her hobbies and studies. The silence and privacy were a big plus she couldn't deny. Even so, she didn't doubt for a second that if she did anything stupid, Murkoff would be able to track her down and everyone that she was connected to.

She let out a long thoughtful sigh and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, her thoughts automatically reaching to her old camcorder for what felt like the thousandth time that week.

 _My camera.. I really could.. but what about.. No, again, I would have to make an effort to never show my face, or better yet, any part of my body on film.. And my voice, even the public voice identification technology is pretty advanced nowadays, they must have some really clever stuff in private, I would have to either not make a sound or heavily alter my voice in post-processing or cut the sound out… …This camcorder is pretty old though, couldn't I use my.. wait, my phone, have I lost my mind? That would be so much easier to track.._

She shook her head lightly and took a few gulps of water, she didn't want to think about this again, she was so tired of mentally fighting herself and debating it in her head and making plans for so long only to back down over and over, but her mind was doing it almost by itself lately, returning to making plans whenever it was left idle. Her retreat every time only added to the frustration, yet it was nothing compared to the guilt that was eating her up inside, she couldn't help but wonder how many people were tortured and killed in cruel human experiments while she sat on her rear trying to talk herself into doing something about it, but ultimately, remained too afraid to even try.

 _But why me?! Why does it have to be me, god dammit, why isn't anyone else doing something about this, it's not like no one knows where the Asylum is or anything! … Tsk, other people probably tried and were silenced long ago, probably decomposing in a ditch somewhere by now.. dammit!_ She slammed the glass on the white marble kitchen counter in frustration and irritation, not hard enough to break. _I don't even have a firearm permit… …I probably wouldn't be able to shoot someone anyway, but it would definitely come in handy for intimidation to keep danger away.. Pepper spray and my taser are worth something though, right?_

Hesitantly returning to her bedroom, she opened the closet door, and there it was, on the shelf sat the old camcorder that was almost haunting her, staring her in the face, almost teasing her to pick it up and go collect some evidence.

 _Easier for you, you don't have a family and life you're risking, so stop taunting me you little piece of…_

She frowned and put an end to her absurd thoughts directed at an inanimate object, and looked away to a semi-open drawer, which, upon pulling it all the way open, revealed a taser gun in a black leather holster at the very back of the drawer.

 _If I miss with you, I'm probably in even bigger trouble than whatever I was in before shooting…_ Opposite of the taser gun sat a small can of pepper spray with a metal ring attached to the top, her hands reached for both items and placed them up on the shelf next to the camcorder. Another drawer was shuffled through and she retrieved some cartridges for the taser gun, and a few of the best camera batteries she could find for the camcorder.

Alyssa stared at the equipment thoughtfully, only to then sigh softly and walk to the tall mirror next to the door. Looking at her reflection only made her resolve weaken, while she was thin, she was only slightly athletic, she never took any sort of self-defense classes, and the only exercise she ever enjoyed was cycling and running. Regrets were starting to make their presence painfully noticeable in her mind more than ever, she told herself she could be a lot better prepared for this, but she wasn't, and it was too late to do anything about it.

 _Wait a second!_ She rushed to the camcorder, and her hand froze only centimeters from it, it was a bit dusty, yet not the reason for her hesitation. She hadn't used the device since her favorite aunt's wedding a few years ago, the woman who loved her like a daughter and who was like a second mother to her, and the thought of going from one of the best events in her life to potentially the worst, or even last, sent a few chills down her spine. She shuddered lightly and swallowed, but pushed away her feelings and quickly grabbed the device, slid a new battery into its slot, pressed a button and looked through the viewfinder. To her chagrin, it worked, the camcorder indeed still had a working nightvision mode.

 _Dammit!_ She slammed the camera back on the shelf, not too hard, but for a second the thought crossed her mind that she had just accidentally broken it. In a way, she hoped she did, at least subconsciously, but she had no such luck, as the device was quite sturdier than it appeared.

Stepping over to her wardrobe, she started digging for a leather belt, and upon finding it, she took the taser gun with its holster and clipped it to the belt, then fetched a knife from the kitchen, poked a hole through the leather and attached the pepper spray can to it using the key ring.

Experimentally, she placed the belt around her waist and looked in the mirror.

 _Well.. theoretically, it's not too shabby. In practice, however, it can very well be a god-damn disaster…_ She gently tossed the whole contraption back into the closet, closed the door and leaned her back against it.

 _What am I doing?.. Stop messing around, you're not fooling anyone, you're not going to save anyone, you go in there and you're dead meat._ She glanced out the window, it was already pitch black, as time flew once again with her internal debates.

 _Enough of this madness, I need to get some sleep._ After shutting down her laptop, locking all the doors and windows, she pulled all the blinds and curtains, remaining unable to ignore the growing sense of paranoia in her mind, but tried to push it aside as much as she could, then undressed and went to bed. As she expected, sleep came no sooner than after a full hour of twisting and turning, her thoughts even more restless than her.

* * *

 **_"Dr. Hamilton, please report to O.R. 9" a bored-sounding female voice was heard on the speaker._ **

**_"Duty calls, eh?" The male doctor in front of her spoke sarcastically, and the doctor rolled her eyes with a smirk_ **

**_"I suppose, but let's continue later, it does seem promising." She took a few steps back as her coworker turned and left_ **

**_"Aye aye, doc." With a mildly hurried gait, she began walking down the brightly lit corridor, took a couple of turns, and ignored the security guards' greetings as she stepped into the operating theater._ **

**_"What is it now?" She asked in a clearly irritated and impatient tone, snapped her rubber gloves on and walked towards the center of the operating theater._ **

**_On the table laid a man, pale, dangerously underweight, and seemingly unconscious, his torso covered in incision marks, some old and scarred, some new and unhealed, several tubes and wires connected to his chest, arms and scalp._ **

**_"We can't get a response doctor, we only administered a low dose of chemical restraints and stage 2 hormones, but his blood pressure keeps dropping!" another doctor said as a couple of nurses were rushing through the room._ **

**_"Goddammit, don't lose another one, you idiots, these assholes don't grow on trees!" Dr. Hamilton shouted and grabbed a large syringe. "Give me a purge, now!" She signaled towards the other doctor and harshly jammed the needle into the unconscious man's bicep vein; her colleague brought a few bags of blood and connected them to the machine next to the patient while Dr. Hamilton cursed under her breath and paced around impatiently, her disgust palpable to everyone in the room._ **

**_Less than a minute later, the male doctor spoke frantically, "Pressure's low and keeps dropping, vital functions going, it's not working doctor!"_ **

**_Now she was furious._ **

**_"Defibrillator, now! And speed up the transfer, if anything bursts again, stitch it up and don't complain." She gestured towards one of the nurses, then stepped back to the table and grabbed the device from the nurse's hands, prepared it and slammed it on the patient's chest, whose body jerked violently._ **

**_"No response, again!" The other doctor said while looking at the flat line displayed on the electrocardiograph, so she brought the electrical pads back down on the patient's chest. Nothing._ **

**_Suddenly, Alyssa's vision of the scene she had been watching from a disembodied position began fading, her hearing muffled as well, and before she knew it, her whole experience became blank. She could not see, hear, or feel anything, but she was still aware of the nothingness, she floated in pure darkness for what felt like a few minutes, confused, yet strangely at peace._ **

**_"Am I… dead?" Her hesitant voice echoed in the seemingly endless emptiness, receiving no answer for what felt like another long minute. Then, gradually, she began hearing snippets of sound, what resembled mumbling that she couldn't discern. She waited curiously and focused on her hearing, until she managed to make out the words "Come on you worthless bastard." It was muffled, but she understood._ **

**_She couldn't have been less prepared for the next thing she felt, a piercing, intense pain, as electricity coursed through her body, a body she now realized didn't belong to her, and this body moved on its own with incredible, almost inhuman speed. Before she knew it, the body she appeared to inhabit had punched someone in the side of the head, and it felt like the fist was a brick shot out of a canon. As the other person fell to the floor, she heard the man who threw the punch shout "No more nightmares!" and within moments, the room fell into chaos._ **

**_The body she felt like a visitor in began screaming hysterically and dragging the tubes and machines around him down in a fit of rage as he lunged towards the other doctor in the room and the nurses screamed for security. "No more doctors, no more machines, no more pain!" The patient screamed and wrestled the other doctor to the ground trying to punch him but the man shielded his face with his arms as best he could._ **

**_It was an inexplicable sensation, something she never even thought possible, she could feel the man's deep desperation and long sustained suffering as he spoke, she could feel the agony in his very soul, she could feel the space around her, as if it was filled with the anguish of hundreds of tormented souls. And it terrified her to the bone._ **

**_As haunting as it was, she didn't have more time to further immerse herself, as only seconds later, three security guards rushed through the doors and pushed the patient off the doctor, backing him into a corner._ **

**_Immediately, she then felt physical pain, an amount of pain she'd never even came close to feeling before shocked her system as they began punching, kicking and beating the man with their nightsticks relentlessly. She felt ribs shattering, skin and stitches breaking and bleeding, even teeth breaking and falling, it felt like hours until they had finally stopped and took a step back, but the pain hadn't, as she felt like she was about to die from blunt trauma. The battered man only cowered in the corner and hugged his knees to his chest, while her heart felt like it couldn't take much more when she listened to him start sobbing and mumbling prayers for freedom and wishes of going home._ **

* * *

As she began waking up, Alyssa was gradually able to distinguish her own sobbing from the man's in the dream, she gritted her teeth and shut her wet eyes tightly.

 _Not again…_ _Why?.._ She squeezed her fist around her blanket and pulled the material to her face to wipe her tears.

 _I'm doing it to myself, aren't I? If I wouldn't think about this so much I wouldn't have nightmares like this! You idiot!_ She berated herself and sat up on the side of her bed, trying to shake away the overwhelming intensity of the feelings she'd just experienced.

Slowly stepping over to the mirror, she sniffled and wiped her tears with the back of her hands, lowered her head and, placing a hand on her chest, she felt how her heart was still thumping heavily, and figuratively hurting, as if the trauma from her dream was a real experience. Dreams or no dreams, something inside her kept insisting that the horrors she goes through in her nightmares are really happening out there, likely even more severe, and perhaps to hundreds of people.

Her haunting dreams and hunches were just a small part of it, however, as the ever-increasing pile of leaks and allegations related to Murkoff's secret experiments begged to not be ignored anymore. Raising her head with a slight tremble, she glanced deep into her own amber eyes and swallowed, her pained and teary expression slowly but surely changing into a somewhat determined frown.

 _To hell with this!_

A part of her insisted that her decision was rash and emerging from a place of emotion, not reason, yet she did her best to ignore that part, took a few large steps to her wardrobe and began searching. On the bed landed a pair of shorts, a pink sports tank top, a jacket, and a pair of black combat boots with a hidden knife and pocket at the side.

As she began putting everything on, her rational mind screamed at her to stop, but she kept trying to explain it away.

 _I don't care even if it was just a random meaningless dream, I don't, i-it was the last straw! I either do this or I move to Antarctica or something so I never ever have to hear and worry about this ever again!_ After she pocketed her wallet and put her long, light brown loose curls in a bun, _s_ he picked up the belt with the taser and pepper spray she put together the previous day and buckled it around her waist.

A loud ringing went off from her bed, she reached for the phone, turned off the alarm and hastily made her bed. The phone was yet another dilemma. She would have preferred to not take it with her at all due to the risks of being tracked, but the idea of leaving behind her phone frightened her, she would've rather be able to call the police if things went really wrong and gladly be arrested for trespassing, at least that way she would be safe in police custody, and as for her camera, if she had managed to find incriminating evidence on Murkoff, even better, if not, then at least she'd gotten out safely.

A pang of guilt crossed her mind as she looked at her phone.

 _I should call mom… while I still can. It might be the last… no_. She didn't even want to consider it. Not that she didn't know it was a possibility, she was well aware it was a massive risk and in the worst case scenario, it was likely that she wouldn't see her family again for a long time, if ever.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, her fingers searched through the phone for her mother's number with a slight nervous tremble. She called the number, and let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding while listening to the soft ringing on the device. After what felt like minutes, she finally heard the cheerful voice of one of the most important people in her life, and it was bitter-sweet.

"Hey honey! I was just thinking of calling you."

"Yeah? Funny, I just wanted to ask what's up with you guys. How are dad and Josh?" she asked her mother with a forced carefree tone of voice. Her 16 year old brother was being a brat around her more often than not, but she knew that was how most teens his age were and she loved him regardless, even though she didn't always show it.

"They're great! A bit too great, dad just bought an even bigger TV and now they're both hogging it with their silly loud video games." her mother laughed, and Alyssa did her best fake chuckle, trying hard to not make it into an obvious nervous laughter.

"Alyssa, is everything alright with you honey? You sound a bit tense." She nearly choked, wondering if her acting was that bad, even on the phone.

"Oh I'm fine! I just read some weird news on the computer that made me think." she replied as casually as she could.

"Are you talking about that silly conspiracy stuff again? Didn't you say you were going to stop reading that crap? Honey, I told you it's bad for your health." the kindness in her mother's voice could not fully mask the woman's exasperation.

"I know, I know, I can quit whenever I want!" she laughed more to release tension than out of amusement. "But anyway, I'm glad you guys are great, I gotta go do some studying, I'll talk to you later." the last words were the heaviest to speak, and she kept pushing away the "I hope" that her mind wanted to add.

"Well alright, talk to you later honey, and come visit soon! It's been almost 6 months!"

"I-I will, sure, good idea, say hi to dad and Josh for me!" After her mother said her goodbyes, she placed her phone in her pants pocket and couldn't help her forehead from falling into her hand as she held back tears.

 _I don't like to do this but.. please, if there's any sort of divine power out there, please don't let this be the last time I talk to her, please.._

The laptop on her desk beeped and began whirring gently, waking up from its own sleep as it was programmed to do each morning and snapped her from her faithless prayers. She raised her head and sat at the desk, deciding to spend some time doing some final research into Murkoff and hoping she might find any information on what she could expect from trespassing through a mental asylum.

Murkoff's own research inside the asylum was top secret in and of itself, so there wasn't much she could look into apart from educated guesses, speculations and leaks, most of which were far from guaranteed to be accurate. Much to her chagrin, she found little useful information and even less that she hadn't read before, but she refused to give up just yet.

Eventually, she was interrupted by the growling of her own stomach, so she took a break and ate a quick and anxious lunch, feeling like she had to force the food down. Afterwards, she took a shower, brushed her teeth, then applied some makeup.

Ready to finish up and leave, she picked up her favorite perfume, but with countless worries rushing through her head, her grasp slipped and the delicate bottle fragmented on the floor. She immediately cursed under her breath and quickly began to gather up the glass pieces, one by one, in her hand, the liquid leaking off of them, coating her skin with the last of its pleasant aroma. She sighed with a hint of sadness, it was a rare foreign brand that her mother gifted to her and it smelled divine, now the last scent of it she'll ever have was on the floor and stuck to her palm, only to dissipate forever with the very next bath.

After she returned to her search, a couple hours later she was starting to consider that she was stalling for time, even subconsciously if not on purpose. Shooting a glance to the clock, she saw it was nearly 4 pm.

 _Christ, when did time fly so fast? Probably when I insisted I reread crap I read months ago for god knows what reasons. I should go now, I've sat around reading and thinking for far too long these past months._

The moment she stood up and took the first steps, her legs already felt like jelly. It added to her frustration and concern, but she deliberately tensed her muscles to stabilize herself and made an effort to walk faster after grabbing the dreaded camcorder along with the batteries and ammo for the stun gun, placing them in her pocket, then heading for the kitchen.

The keys on the counter top shimmered in the sunlight, catching her attention. Without even thinking about it because she knew she would hesitate again, she grabbed them, unlocked the front door, left the house and locked the door behind her.

Almost on autopilot, her body walked to the dark grey Audi A5 in front of the garage, unlocked the door, sat in the driver's seat and slammed the door behind her. With a slightly trembling hand, she placed the camcorder on the passenger's seat, then gripped the steering wheel with both hands and took a deep breath.

 _Alright. We're doing this. Too late to back down now._

After twisting the key in the ignition, the engine roared awake immediately, erasing her subconscious hopes of an external cause preventing her from reaching the asylum. As she gently pressed the pedal, she couldn't help the sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, this definitely felt like a mistake that could cost her everything.

 _I said it's too late to back down, dammit!_ She scolded herself and pressed the pedal harder as she reached the road, making an effort to focus most of her attention on it and away from the urges to return home.


	2. Chapter 2

The asylum's location was true to its name, being a long drive into the Colorado mountains, which only gave her more time to think, or rather, over-think, worry, and create all sorts of horrible scenarios in her head. As she drove down the street, approaching the end of the small city, she couldn't keep her eyes from scanning the sidewalks and rear view mirror for any sign of potential danger. Did she look too nervous, even suspicious? Was anyone else around suspicious-looking? She threw another quick glance in the rear view mirror. Was she being followed? The questions kept rising into her mind almost by themselves, until she shook her head slightly and put an end to them.

 _Don't be ridiculous, nothing's happening yet. There are millions of people like me who read weird stuff online, pretty sure I'm not on a list or anything like t-"_ Her thoughts were immediately forced to a halt along with the car as her foot slammed down on the breaks. The older man with the scraggly beard she had nearly hit as he jaywalked seemed more than a little intoxicated, he shouted something mostly incomprehensible towards her, then stumbled away after tossing an offensive hand gesture.

 _You have got to be kidding me! Today of all days, in a time like this!_ She quickly looked around and some of her worries were alleviated when she noticed there wasn't any commotion and very few people around, it was unlikely anyone was going to give any further thought to the incident. After a sigh to relieve tension, she accelerated again, not happy to admit that it was partly her own fault as well for not paying more attention to the road, and made an effort to not get lost in her thoughts again.

Nearly two hours later, she was off the highway and shortly down a dirt road heading into the mountains. Before she got any further, she pulled over for a minute, and pulled out her phone, her moderately long nails came in handy when opening up the back cover of the device, from which she removed both the battery and the SIM card, then placed the few pieces in her pocket. As she continued her journey, she couldn't ignore her now somewhat mixed feelings, the fear and anxiety were still there, more intense than ever, but there was a little of something else, she wondered if it really could have been a sliver of excitement. Scoffing at the ridiculous thought and dismissing it, she allowed herself a glance out the window, at least now that she was off the streets she didn't have to worry about running anything over, at least not any drunkards.

The forest was getting denser the more she traveled, the increasingly taller and thicker trees allowing less and less of the sunset's light to pass through, while the few rays that reached her face were pleasantly warm and gentle, and as cliche as she reckoned it was, the feeling really did remind her of her mother's touch when she was a child.

 _What am I doing, mom? Why didn't I tell you? I should have told you, that way you would've done everything in your power to stop me. God, I've done a few stupid things in my life but nothing of this caliber…_ Alyssa blinked to clear her already watering eyes and looked away from the sunset.

Towards the east, the forest seemed even thicker and darker, she wondered what it would be like to have to run through there in desperation, if any patients ever escaped from the asylum and had no choice but to get lost in there. It seemed like a very unappealing option, and made her decide to hide her car as best she could, a distance away from the asylum and off the road, just in case anyone found it and took away her only transport out of the middle of nowhere.

Not much later, the undulating dirt road began to straighten out, which allowed her to see better in the distance, a sight which, despite never having seen in person, had been the subject of her nightmares. There it was, the place that haunted her for far too long, not in full view just yet, but she could already see the two tall towers of the ominous building.

Swallowing her anxiety, she turned her attention away from the sight ahead and instead began looking for a clearing on the side of the road. A minute later, she found an area several meters away from the road and slightly lower in altitude, surrounded by tall grass. She figured it was as good as it was going to get, as the trees surrounding the asylum area were now far too scattered to provide any useful cover, and carefully drove her car there. The grass almost reached past the vehicle's windows, and the fact that it was painted a dark color definitely helped in making it less than visible when viewed from the road, especially as the sun was setting.

With the sinking feeling in her stomach returning more intense than ever, she grabbed her camera, stepped out of the car, closed the door as gently but securely as she could, and silently locked it. She stared back at the vehicle for a few seconds more, unsure if she was doing it just to avoid looking at the asylum in the near distance. Gathering what little courage she had, she finally turned to the building and began walking as quietly as she possibly could, which wasn't very, due to the nature of the rocky and sandy dirt road, but stepping on the dry vegetation helped conceal some sound.

The large metal gates remained still while she approached from the side and hid behind the wall. Peeking through the bars, a security booth several feet away grabbed her attention. From her angle, distance, and the dimming sunlight, she couldn't tell if there was anyone inside.

 _Looks like you'll come in handy quicker than I thought._ She held up the camcorder and looked through the viewfinder, the device's zoom and nightvision function made it clear that the booth was empty, much to her relief.

 _That's kinda odd.._ _There still has to be security around here, right? Especially since it's a hospital for the criminally insane._

Pushing on the large gates didn't yield any result, she could barely make them waver and they felt like they weighed a ton. After a soft sigh of defeat, she attached her camera to her belt and firmly placed both hands on the bars.

 _Not that I expected it to be easy, but I'm definitely no climber._ With some difficulty and a little slipping on the smooth vertical bars, she forced her body towards the top; small but pointed and relatively sharp spikes were lined up along the top of the gate, making the climb even trickier. Her dark sense of humor got the best of her and she almost burst out laughing when the thought of accidentally impaling her rear on those and remaining stuck there crossed her mind without warning.

 _Oh man, talk about crashing before you even take off.._

Having successfully navigated past the pesky spikes, she slid down the other side of the gate as quietly as she could, then hugged the right wall in the darkness and approached the security booth.

 _I can't blame them for the spikes too much, I have those myself at home.. Remind me to buy some barbed wire and electrodes, if a clumsy amateur like me jumped this, how easy would it be for an experienced thief?_

A bit more relaxed that the security booth was empty after seeing it up close with her own eyes too, she walked past it and towards another gate. To her relief, this one had a half-open smaller gate next to it, which she pushed slowly and cringed at the loud squeak it immediately gave.

 _Great, let's wake everybody up, why not, it's only deranged criminals that live here, after all!_ She hid behind the wall next to the gate and scanned with her eyes for any sign of attention attracted by the noise, but found nothing. No movement, no sound of human or animal, the only sound being the wind whistling in the distance and ruffling the trees and bushes. To say it was eerie was an understatement, the entire courtyard seemed deserted, lifeless. Instead of being relieved at the lack of activity, it only made her more tense, it didn't seem normal, dared she think it, it didn't seem natural.

Shaking off the unsettling feeling as best she could, she glanced through her camcorder's viewfinder and took the first good look in person at the asylum. To say the sight intimidated her wouldn't even begin to cover it, it reminded her of castles from horror movies, the building's twin towers looking down upon her ominously, as if directly threatening her to leave its property immediately or suffer the consequences.

Paranoia prodded at her again as she eyed the building from top to bottom, only to see no signs of life, just a few of the many windows appearing to be lit up from the inside. Checking the surroundings as best she could from her position, she noticed what looked like two large trucks in the distance, very close to the front doors.

The vanishing light from the nearly set sun made it difficult to figure them out from where she stood, so she used her camcorder to take a closer look via the zoom function, especially at the vehicles' windows. To her shock, they strongly resembled military trucks.

 _Are you kidding me, the military is here?! Good God, what am I getting myself into? But still, then.. where are they? What's with this dead silence? Usually when the military gets involved you can hear the activity from a mile away, if you don't hear it on the news first._ Checking the windows of the vehicles revealed that they were empty, at least as far as she could see in the front seats, she couldn't know what was in the back and had no intention of checking up close, but she figured if someone was in there, they would at least make some noise, there still wasn't the slightest peep to be heard. Feeling slightly more courageous but still on edge, she kept the camera up and took a few more steps towards the building.

Then she saw it, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a human silhouette behind one of the lit windows on the first floor. At first, it moved frantically, then slowed to a halt, appearing to turn to her, remaining still for a few moments, as if staring her down before moving out of sight with surprising speed. Immediately, she stepped out of the light and ran as quickly but quietly as she could to the edge of the courtyard and crouched next to the wall in the shadows behind the bushes.

 _Dammit, this is a horrible start! Who was that? Did they really see me? Who am I kidding, they obviously did. Shit, shit, shit!... …Should I… turn back?_ Taking a long look back towards the main gate, her fear, anxiety and paranoia were trying their hardest to convince her to turn back, go home and forget about everything. Could she? It was in the realm of possibility, but would she? She told herself she was so close, had wanted to do this for so long, she could find the answers that so many people were after for years, answers that others risked everything for, answers that could mean the difference between life and death for hundreds of people, perhaps even more if Murkoff had similar illegal operations running in other institutions.

 _I… can't… I can't turn away now. I just… know I would hate myself for a very long time if I did… Maybe I'd never even forgive myself, if the truth comes out years from now, after who knows how many more victims…_ A long pained sigh left her as she felt her body relax ever so slightly.

 _Alright, alright, ease up, we're not in danger right now, that wasn't a big deal, there's bound to be people in there, it doesn't have to mean I'm in danger. It's fine, carry on, we can do this._

With renewed determination and a deep breath, she stuck close to the wall and quietly approached the asylum from the side.

While there did seem to be some light coming from behind the front door, Alyssa decided against it.

 _I'd have to be crazy to go in through the front door._ The knee-height hole in the metal gate ahead gave her mixed feelings, it was convenient that she had a way to pass through and not have to climb it since there were chains around the lock, but she couldn't help wondering who could have damaged the gate in such a way, the bars were metallic, thick and strong, yet several of them looked like they had been severely bent and ripped from the outside towards the inside.

She decided to crawl through the hole before her mind got the chance to create all sorts of horror stories again, and found herself in a smaller courtyard with a still water fountain, a single door into the building, and a scaffold against the asylum wall. The door didn't inspire her confidence, it looked too bright and inviting, with the lit bulb directly above it, but it didn't seem like she had a choice.

Slowly and quietly approaching the door, the bright light drained her confidence further as she grabbed and twisted the handle, she held her breath and pushed cautiously, praying for no more loud squeaks. To her relief, the door opened quietly and smoothly. After it was halfway open, she dared to peek inside, it was nearly pitch black, so she activated the camcorder's nightvision, stepped inside and closed the door quietly.

Alyssa found herself in a narrow hallway, with a couple of old, rusty shelves lined up on the left wall, a mop, bucket, and a couple of brooms next to them. The hallway turned right, and as she did too, she jumped when her hip bumped into the side of a desk. By the looks of it, it had been shoved inside in a hurried and forceful manner through the door at the end of the short hallway, seeing as there was a ruffled carpet underneath it and scratch marks on the wooden floor.

Feeling a bit safe now that she was in a dark area by herself, she approached the door, which had a window at the top allowing some light through. To her chagrin, however, the glass was frosted, she couldn't distinguish much on the other side, worse, it looked like the door was jammed shut by a pile of objects directly in front of it. Alyssa pushed as hard as she could, taking small breaks in between attempts, but only managed to open it half an inch, it felt futile and discouraging.

 _Dammit! What now? I don't like the idea of going back outside, it makes me feel too exposed…_

She scanned around with her nightvision camcorder for any potential solution, and for a fleeting moment, she thought of asking through the door crack if there was anybody in there, but quickly dismissed the dangerous idea. Checking the shelves hadn't yielded any results either, the only things on them were boxes of detergent, paint cans, brushes, empty boxes and a pair of scissors. The scissors caught her eye, until she remembered she already had her own strong sharp knife, it was unlikely it couldn't do something that the scissors could.

Frustration was continuing to grow inside her, then, an idea crossed her mind upon seeing the long handle of one of the brooms. She picked up the sturdier of the two and managed to stick it through the narrow crack between the door and the wall, she pulled, pushed, and twisted the handle around until she managed to widen the gap to a few inches open.

 _Come ooon, this is a start but I'm not gonna be able to fit through there!_ Gathering more of her strength, she pushed against the broom handle until the door began to pry open an inch more, when suddenly she heard a crack, and from the momentum of the force she was exerting, she flung her forehead against the solid wooden door frame.

A short yelp escaped her throat before she silenced herself and groaned quietly. Looking down at the broken broom handle and the scratches it left in her palms as it cracked and slid in her hands made her feel weak, or perhaps it was the blow to her head, she wasn't sure, but she kept rubbing her aching forehead. She looked through the door gap, still too small to fit even her slim figure, dropped the broken broom handle and leaned against the wall in temporary defeat.

Letting out a deep breath of frustration and slight anger, she was about to accept that she had to go back outside and look for another way through, when she decided to have a last look around the hallway. A random glance towards the higher parts of the walls turned out to be a godsend, as she noticed an open ventilation shaft. With a short smile that her luck had changed, she put her camcorder away and quietly dragged the desk under the hole.

There was still some distance to the vent, but after some struggling and boots slipping on the wall, she managed to climb inside. As expected, it was dark, and her camcorder's nightvision revealed a number of spider webs around the corners, she carefully navigated past them, acknowledging the fact that she had much bigger problems to worry about than touching spider webs, but couldn't help her aversion regardless.

Crawling through the narrow ventilation shaft wasn't easy with the few tight turns she had to snake through, but having to hold a camcorder to her eye with one hand to see where she was going and not wake up with a spider on her face was making it all the more difficult. Each knee and elbow putting pressure on the thin metal made it slightly bend with noticeable sound, it was anything but subtle, and she hoped she wouldn't have to do this with anyone near because she would easily give away her location.

Soon, she came across an intersection, she wanted to go left, but a large solid grate blocked her way. Her sense of direction gave her a bad feeling, but having no other choice, she took the other turn and noticed another grate, much more fragile-looking, covering the exit several feet away.

 _Oh, no, no no, please, don't tell me…_ She frowned in disbelief and began crawling faster, not caring about the noise she was making and impatient to make sure of it herself. When she reached the grate and looked through, her fears were confirmed, she almost wanted to smack her forehead against it in frustration. It only lead back outside, several meters away from the door she walked in through.

 _Goddammit!_ She slammed her hand against the grate and it opened from the bottom up. Disgruntled, she nearly crashed to the ground in her rush to get out of the vent.

Even though the windows on ground floor were elevated beyond reach, she decided to have a closer look, and checking along the scaffold next to the wall, she noticed there was actually an open window at the top. Once again, she felt a bit confused by mixed feelings.

 _Well there you go, you wanted to go inside, that's got to be a sure way inside. I hate when 'careful what you wish for' comes true…_

Getting on the scaffold was easy, a sturdy ladder connected to it near the fountain, but getting to the top was trickier than she liked; the wood she was stepping on was shiny and still humid from the rain of the previous days, and seeing as the sun had nearly completely set, she didn't trust her eyes to navigate the darkness, so she had to look through her camcorder to make sure she was not stepping in a hole and plummeting to the cement ground below.

It wasn't that high up, only one floor above the ground floor, but looking down still made her legs feel weaker, especially when she had to make a final jump on the platform next to the open window. She mentally and physically prepared for the jump and succeeded with only minimum slipping, then quickly grabbed the border of the window frame for support.

After she climbed through, there was only more darkness, so her camcorder came in handy once again. The state of the room around, however, unsettled her, it was a complete mess, glass shattered over the floor, desks, shelves, chairs, tables and even sofas laying around upside down and at odd angles, paper scattered everywhere, it looked like a tornado had just ravaged the area.

She frowned and cautiously headed towards the light coming from the cracked open door at the other end of the room, when she heard a soft 'plop' sound after one step. Looking down through the camcorder only revealed a black, grainy puddle she had stepped in. She took a step back and crouched down in an attempt to make sure it wasn't what she thought it was, but it was hard to be certain without proper light. Swinging open the door allowed light to come through and confirmed her fear, it was indeed a large puddle of blood.

 _What… happened here? Who bled so much in one place? It's worrisome, but… I highly doubt a messy room and puddle of blood in a building full of sick people is enough evidence to demand a thorough police investigation_.

Partially dismissing the puddle, she walked out the room and into the hallway only to find it blocked by shelves, desks and chairs stuffed together in the middle of the path, and another room to the left. The other room proved to be much less chaotic, with sofas, armchairs, a coffee table and shelves, and a few stacks of books scattered around, along with a large TV above the fireplace.

It looked quite cozy, and she knew enough about mental hospitals, especially when corporations were involved, that it couldn't have been where patients were allowed any access. _I must be in an administration area of some sort._ She was a bit relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with any patients, at least not in this part of the asylum.

 _Still, where are the staff? Where is security?_

Out of curiosity, she approached the coffee table and checked the books resting on it, the familiarity of one catching her attention, she picked it up and examined it, it was in good condition, not even dusty.

 _The Holy Bible? Well, I imagine religion can play a significant role in mental stability and support. Not to mention moral guidance… I mustn't forget, this is a hospital for the criminally insane, they're not average crazy people, they must have attacked and even killed people, if I'm unlucky enough to stumble into one, I must be extra careful._

She placed the book back on the table gently, and even though she wasn't religious herself, she had to admit that for some reason, things like that soothed her anxiety and fear. After peeking past the corner, she left through the second door of the room which allowed her to move past the blockage in the hallway.

Her expression turned more and more concerned as she walked forward, however, the walls of the rest of the hallway revealed themselves to be punctured, damaged, there were even some holes, doors were blocked and nailed shut, but what worried her the most was the blood splattered on the wall to her left, the shape of a hand in it particularly giving her a foreboding feeling.

After making sure to get it clearly on film, she attempted to open the first door to her left that wasn't nailed shut, but it wouldn't budge despite her best efforts. Much to her relief, the next one did open, she stepped inside after checking that it was empty and quietly closed the door behind her.

 _Jesus Christ, what happened out there? Was there a fight, did a patient attack someone? Though it looks like a lot more damage than a couple of people can do in a short fight…_ The room she was in appeared to be a small office, with a desk, chair and computer near the back, a tall shelf and file cabinet. Checking the computer proved fruitless since it was password protected, and she didn't exactly feel like sitting there trying to guess or hack passwords, as she wasn't good at it either.

As she began pulling the file cabinet's drawers, she realized she could be searching for a long time, and decided to place the chair against the door, just in case. With both the chair and her false sense of security in place, she began rummaging through files. As she expected, everything she looked through was of little to no importance, hospital records, medication notes, minor security notices. Nothing incriminating, nothing useful.

She sighed and stepped away from the file cabinet, not without closing all drawers and placing everything where it was so it looked like nothing was touched. Rummaging through the drawers of the computer desk, she found less tedious material, but still nothing worthy of special attention, only common office things.

Until she pulled open the last bottom drawer and was met with a light blue folder with the text "Confidential" stamped big in red on the front. It immediately caught her attention, her heart picked up the pace slightly and she shot a quick glance towards the door, which still seemed securely shut, then gently took the folder and opened it on the desk. She read the contents quickly but carefully, still checking the door with her gaze from time to time:

 _**"MURKOFF PSYCHIATRIC SYSTEMS** _

_**PROJECT WALRIDER** _

_**PATIENT STATUS REPORT FOR WILLIAM HOPE** _

_**Mount Massive CO** _

_**Case Number: 174** _

_**Patient Initials: WPH, "Billy"** _

_**Consultation Dated: 2012.10.14** _

_**Initial Date of Patient Consult: 2009.04.12** _

_**Patient Age: 19** _

_**Gender: Male** _

_**Observing Physician: Dr. Carl Houston (DBNR)** _

_**THERAPY STATUS:** _

_**Patient claims to have progressed to self-directed lucid dream states. MORPHOGENIC ENGINE activity observed at unprecedented scale. Continuing stage 4 hormone schedule.** _

_**DIAGNOSTICS:** _

_**Spirometry revealed no bronchial accumulation. Hematocrit centrifuge again failed to separate erythrocytes. Highly worrisome. MRI revealed arrhythmic REM/NREM cycle. Laughter in NREM state.** _

_**INTERVIEW NOTES:** _

_**Billy asked about the status of his mother's lawsuit against Murkoff and the asylum. This represents a catastrophic breach in security, despite Billy's claims that he discovered the truth 'in the blood dreams of Doctor Trager.' (Note: the only Trager on company records, one Richard Trager, is an executive from M.R.D.) All orderlies and security personnel must be questioned and video security improved to include analytical biometrics.** _

_**MURKOFF PSYCHIATRIC SYSTEMS PROJECT WALRIDER** _

_**Mount Massive CO"** _

_What… in the world does this mean? What does lucid dreaming have to do with this, do they use it as therapy? I'm no shrink, but from my own lucid dreams I can agree they could be useful in soothing disturbed individuals. If this is indeed what they use it for, that would make some sense, but hormone therapy? Experimenting with sleep stages and lucid dreaming on the mentally ill? This is already a bit curious. The 'blood dreams' part is also strange, but it was spoken by this Billy guy, it looks like he was kept here for at least a few years, he must have had some loose screws like most people in here. They also must've screwed up on security pretty badly if a patient like him stuck in this asylum managed to find out about a lawsuit they were trying to keep from him._

 _And… 'Doctor Trager'? What in the world does he have to do with this one patient, and why did he call him a doctor? He's a corporate executive, a damn snobbish bastard at that too, I find it difficult to believe someone like him would 'dirty his hands' with 'lowly people' such as asylum patients. But most importantly… what is this, Project Walrider? I… remember that word, Walrider, I read it on a creepy stories website a long time ago, but I'll be damned if I can remember what it actually means… And I can't check online right now. I guess for now I'll keep this document and focus on staying out of sight and gather more evidence, hopefully something more solid and incriminating._

 _This is good, it's a start, certainly interesting to me but not really enough to raise serious legal questions. From now on I also need to keep a more careful eye out for security cameras, I haven't seen any outside but there's bound to be some inside. Better yet, I should look for a security control room, disable the feed, check past recordings for any incriminating footage I could copy and then erase everything. It will raise questions of where the footage went, but it's nothing traceable to me, it could have been anyone else, especially if any patients escaped. I just hope… just don't have any backups in some remote network, nothing I can do about that._

She gently rolled the folder and slid it down a deep pocket on the inside of her jacket, unblocked the door and quietly left the room. Seeing the blood painted walls replaced her investigative thoughts with vigilance, remembering that she didn't have the luxury of getting distracted in the asylum.

The end of the hallway ended with three doors, one straight ahead made of frosted glass, one cracked open on the left wall, and another one to the right. Through the narrow opening of the left door, she noticed white tiles stained with red, raising a few alarms in her mind.

She approached cautiously with the intention of swinging the door open from as far away as she could, her outstretched arm only inches away from touching it, when it suddenly creaked closed and a couple of clicks were heard. Her heart picked up its pace significantly and she rushed towards the glass door as quietly and quickly as she could, only to slam into it and stop, as it would not budge no matter how she twisted its handle.

 _Shit, shit!_

With hesitation, she ran through the open door opposite of the one that just seemingly closed by itself, swiftly closed it behind her and blocked it with her body.

 _Christ, relax, why am I so freaked out, it must've just been someone_ _in there who heard me coming and didn't want to be disturbed, right? I think it was a bathroom so it would make sense, calm down, calm down…_ Placing a hand on her chest, she made an effort to slow her frantic breathing.

The room she found herself in resembled a kitchen, and with no other way out, it didn't take her long to notice the open vent above the table.

 _Ugh, just, don't lead outside too, for crying out loud._ Fortunately, the ventilation shaft was significantly more spacious than the previous one, making it easier to crawl through, and was also going just straight ahead for several feet.

When she reached the end, she was disheartened to see that it was quite a high drop, and she was in a bad position to land on her feet. She curled herself up into a ball near the exit and managed to turn around and hang her legs off the edge, then hesitantly dropped down. The running and cycling she'd done had strengthened her muscles to a certain extent, but she still felt the impact and light shock travel through her leg bones when she landed. She winced and shook her feet in an attempt to ease her aching tendons, the pain lingering for some seconds until it slowly faded.

Once again, she found herself in a messy area, a wide U-shaped hallway surrounding the main lobby downstairs, with windows, some of them shattered, some of them missing, lined up on the left, and on the right with nailed doors. Flipped and broken desks and chairs were scattered around, along with damaged and stained walls, but despite all that, it was fairly clear that most of the damage was recent.

 _I have a bad feeling about this… If I had to guess, it looks like patients escaped and wrecked this place, for one reason or another. Let's just hope I'm wrong._ She threw a quick glance down towards the section of the lobby she could see from the angle she was at and saw nothing out of the ordinary, then opened the first door that wasn't nailed shut, only to be met with pitch darkness. Once again her camcorder's nightvision saved the day, and she walked in what seemed to be a library, rows of shelves stacked with books lined the walls and also made narrow pathways between them in the entire room like a small labyrinth.

Glancing around at the shelves just in case there might be any loose files lying around that she could inspect, she followed the narrow pathway, until the sight before her made her stop dead in her tracks. It was a surreal feeling, she legitimately considered that she was either dreaming, or plain hallucinating.

In front of a window there was an upright, suspended, dark and blurry silhouette of a man, with what looked like a pole going vertically through his body. With a feeling of disbelief, she slowly stepped towards the bizarre scene, part of her brain overtaken by morbid curiosity and a desire to make sure it was not what it looked like. She let out a short scream and fell backwards on her rear when the man suddenly gasped painfully and raised his arm towards her, he struggled to speak, his voice frantic and hoarse

"They killed us… They got out, the Variants…" He coughed blood down his chin.

"W-what happened here, who killed you?! Who are you?" She managed to ask with a trembling voice and crawled towards him in an attempt to help him down somehow, but it was futile, he was mortally wounded, and the pole he was impaled on was solid metal and nearly reached the ceiling.

"Murkoff Tactics Division. Variants wiped us out. You can't fight them, get the fuck out of this place. Unlock doors from security control…"

She was about to ask him where and if there was anything she could do to help, when the man's whole body suddenly went limp as his last breath left him.

She covered her mouth not to cry in fear, scrambled to her feet and with shaky hands made sure to record the scene with her camcorder. When she turned towards the door, she nearly dropped the device, she didn't even want to make sure of what she saw as it was too much to handle, but she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a number of human heads lined up on the shelves to the sides of the exit before she left the room.

Slamming the door shut and leaning against it while holding back tears, she looked around frantically through wet eyes for any sign of danger, particularly the cause of the scene in the previous room.

 _What in the freakin' hell was that?! Who could have done something like that? Christ, it's bad enough to kill a person, but… to pin them on a giant stick like some sort of sick_ _barbecue_ _dish? And were those really human heads I just saw?! Why in the world would anyone do anything like that! Screw all of this, I filmed a man dying horrifically inside Mount Massive Asylum, this has to be grounds for serious police investigation, I need to get the hell out and upload this video!_

Stumbling and bumping into broken furniture partly because she was looking everywhere for any sign of danger except where she was going, she took a couple of lefts down the corridor until she noticed an open door at the end of it, it looked like the stairwell.

It was just her luck for the corridor to be blocked by another pile of broken and stacked furniture, however, this pile seemed noticeably smaller and more fragile, which she immediately began pulling on and taking apart.

 _I'll be damned if I stay in this god-forsaken place one minute longer!_ She eagerly pushed and pulled away pieces of chairs, tables and desks, slowly but surely beginning to make enough room for her lithe body to pass through.

Just a little more debris cleared and she would have free way to the stairwell, go downstairs then run outside and never even come near the asylum again.

 _Come on, come on, who the hell made these blockages and why?! Whoever it is, I'd like to give them a piece of my mi-_ Her efforts were interrupted when she heard a door slam open hard, and when she gazed behind, her heart skipped a beat upon seeing a monster of a man walking out in the center of the U-shaped hallway, less than twenty meters away from where she was.

From the quick glance she could afford, she noticed he was huge in stature, heavy in both fat and muscle, with blood covering parts of his body concentrated around his hands and forearms, and worst of all, he began to rapidly approach her.

With a pathway to freedom so close, she turned back and focused all her efforts into clearing the obstruction, but her vision became teary again when she heard the man's heavy and frantic breathing sound increasingly closer, along with the heavier stomping of his feet. Terror overcame her and she could barely remove the last pieces of debris blocking her path, her whole body shaking with fear.

Every millisecond counted, and she realized she couldn't afford wasting any more, so she forced her way through the blockage. Her body squeezed through with some difficulty, and just as she thought she was in the clear, she heard the man's breathy and raspy voice say with conviction "Little pig!" followed by a vice grip around her ankle.

Immediately, her whole body was pulled back violently and she screamed at the top of her lungs, only to be quickly silenced when a huge and bloody hand tightened around her throat. The next thing she felt was a shock of pain as she was roughly hurled through the glass windows and their wooden frames, followed by a much more severe pain that rattled through her entire body when she hit the hardwood floor down below in the main lobby. She tried to move, but her body wouldn't comply, the thought of paralysis terrified her, but not for long, as within seconds she had already lost consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

When she came around, the first thing she felt was pain, so much pain, throughout her body, it was as if she had just tried to hug a freight train traveling at full speed. She slowly opened her eyes and shakily supported her body up on one elbow.

Next to her, to the left, she only saw a large circular reception desk, and some distance away to her right was the empty shaft of an elevator. Small shards of broken glass were scattered all around and underneath her, which had done an effective job of scratching and tearing the uncovered skin of her legs.

To her relief, there was very little blood, except for the small trail that ran down the side of her head, she figured that was where the intense headache was coming from.

 _Good god, what was that? Who was.. why did.. argh my head, it feels like someone's beating heavy drums inside it.. My ribs hurt too, I'd better not have any internal bleeding or I'm in serious trouble. I don't know what problem that asshole that threw me had, and I have no care for finding out, I need to get the hell out now that I'm on the ground floor. W-wait, my camcorder!_ She quickly began looking around and was slightly relieved to see her camcorder a few feet away from her.

Crawling towards it was painful, but she wanted to make sure it was still working properly before anything else. As she crawled, she felt the shape of the folder she had taken earlier inside her jacket, confirming that the deep pocket had kept the document securely in place. She reached the camcorder and upon picking it up, found out that it was still in decent condition and still recording.

 _Oh, thank god! I can't even begin to imagine going through this only to break the camera after filming a very good reason for a police inves-_

"Well well, looks like Father Martin's gonna keep his end of the bargain sooner than I thought…" A male voice with a raspy undertone suddenly intruded, she gasped and quickly glanced up towards where the sound came from.

A man sat on the edge of one of the empty window frames above, hands clasped together calmly, clad only in orange pants and a pair of short boots. He was of a medium build, fairly thin but muscular and defined to an odd extent for someone stuck in an asylum, with a bald head, pale skin and light blue eyes. His right sleeve tattoo was difficult to distinguish, both because of the distance he was at but also because of the large, jagged scars that ran across his arms as well as his torso. Among them, one scar stood out, placed at the center of his chest, below his collarbones and shaped like a triangle with its point downwards. On his face there were a few symmetrical, finer scars, appearing to have been done with surgical precision, along with a small missing piece of his lower lip, as if it had been sliced through. He watched her like a hawk, not moving a muscle.

To say she was intimidated would be an understatement, and she decided to take it as slowly and nicely as she could, hoping to establish a safe situation.

 _Holy crap, another one?.. Actually, I don't even know if the one that threw me through the window was a patient, and this one looks more like a prison inmate than an asylum patient. Careful now… crazy people are very easy to provoke, and this place isn't for ordinary disturbed people, this asylum is for the criminally insane, this guy probably assaulted or even killed someone. I need to be as polite and cautious as I can, and not argue with anything weird he might say._

"F-father who? Who is that, and who are you?" she asked in an innocent tone, trying to keep her voice from quivering. He shrugged lightly and rolled his eyes before replying

"Martin. The nutter who thinks he's bringing back Jesus or something. But hey, he thinks you're his apostle, who am I to bitch?" he replied in a casual tone as if everything was business as usual, whatever was happening in the asylum, he didn't seem to be taking it seriously.

"Apostle, what do you mean? And what happened here, who are you?" She slowly struggled up to her feet, the pain still very present in her body, but she didn't take her eyes off him for safety. The camcorder in her hand was pointed straight ahead, she thought for a moment about pointing it up towards him but decided against it, afraid that it might anger him, and while he seemed calm at the time, she knew crazy people were unpredictable, she didn't want to find out what he might do if he was angered.

"Don't know, just religious bullshit, y'know? Said he needs you to stick around for a bit… Who am I?" he paused and tilted his head until she heard joints pop "Memory's rusty, bits and pieces come and go, they screwed with our heads till some of us can't tell our asses from our ears. And here… we threw a really big party, the fuck do you think happened? We busted out and cracked their fucking skulls open. Doctors, nurses, guards… Wish we killed them slower, pieces of shit didn't deserve to die so easy. But I know some are still around.. hiding.. shitting themselves in fear that we'll catch 'em.. yeah… Martin's right, you gotta stick around, there's still plenty of fun left to be had." he said thoughtfully, then finished the sentence with a smirk and sinister look in his eyes aimed at her that sent chills down her spine.

"I-I see.. I'm afraid I can't stay anymore, I came here to help!" her tone raised slightly with enthusiasm as she recalled her mission "There are a lot of concerns and rumors about crimes being committed inside this asylum but police wouldn't start an investigation without solid evidence. I snuck in here to get some, and there's.. well, I filmed this dead guy in the library, someone had.. stuck him like a pig on a spit, with a big pole through his body." She barely had finished her sentence when the man burst out laughing loudly.

 _This guy thinks that's funny? Well, he is mentally ill, I guess.._

"Must've been that fucker Walker." he said simply after he abruptly stopped laughing.

"Walker? Is.. he by chance a really big guy that breathes heavily?"

He raised an eyebrow "No fucking way you met him?"

"I did.. he threw me through that window next to you. Just when I was this close to leaving." she raised her index finger for a second to point to the broken window next to where he was sitting.

" _You,_ survived Walker?! Holy shit, you're one lucky bitch!" he almost shouted and leaned towards her, seemingly very amused at that. She turned her head so he wouldn't notice her frowning at his crude language towards her, which allowed her to notice the front door and reminded of her late exit.

"Yeah, but I have to go now! I promise I'll leak this footage and police will come very soon, everyone who's been mistreated here will be transferred to a proper hospital and actually be taken care of, then those bastards at Murkoff who are responsible for this will be rotting in prison." She said enthusiastically and circled around the reception desk towards the front doors of the building. Her stride faltered when she heard him start laughing again, but she ignored it, she told herself he was a mad man, after all.

Almost immediately, she saw the bodies that were previously blocked from her view by the desk, dressed in professional and security attires, but most noticeably, covered in blood. She panicked and held back a whimper, but decided she had no time to stop and stare, she had to get out, immediately.

When she reached the door, the patient's laughter suddenly made sense to her, the realization was bitter. Both front doors were locked shut by large metal clamps that looked so sturdy she didn't believe she would be able to make a dent in them even if she had a sledgehammer. Checking the windows crushed what little hope she had left, seeing as they were all barred.

She stared at the doors for a few seconds, at how impenetrable they seemed, swallowed her hopelessness, and hesitantly turned around. The unpleasant sight of the corpses made her feel worse now, she couldn't shake the possibility that she could become one of them.

Approaching the tall front desk again, she noticed another dead body on closer inspection, this one was a security guard, still sitting in the leaned back chair, limp, and covered in blood.

"Probably had a family, huh?" The patient's voice suddenly spoke from above regarding the dead man, and with startling agility, he swiftly hopped up and crouched on the thin border of the window, then jumped back into the hallway behind him "Probably should have thought about that before he started working for these cocksuckers who treat us worse than lab rats, huh?!" He then shouted and began walking down the corridor slowly.

"M.. maybe he didn't know?" She tried to inconspicuously calm him down, knowing that some people get even angrier if directly told to calm down.

"Like fuck he didn't! I heard some of the others screaming from opposite operating rooms, you'd have to be fucking deaf or a piece of shit to go along with this!" He eyed her and kept walking.

"Yeah… I don't know how some people can pretend this isn't happening. Still, whistleblowing is very dangerous, maybe he was too scared…" she recalled her own long internal conflict until she finally arrived at the asylum.

He stopped in the center of the hallway above and looked down at her

"Oh yeah? Yet you're here to get evidence and leak it? Little girl like you has more balls than the fucking grown ass man then." he raised his eyebrows and replied with a hint of amusement.

She grinned briefly, mostly out of nervousness, and looked away "Couldn't ignore my conscience anymore.."

"Hey. Priest guy left this for you." He suddenly changed the topic and pointed a thumb down, towards the section of wall right below the windows he was at. Alyssa looked and squinted, but it was difficult to decipher due to the colors, using her camcorder to zoom in, she realized there were letters written in dark red over the dark brown wood of the wall.

"Proclaim the gospel…?" She read out loud in a confused tone.

"Don't even ask, I got no clue."

An exhausted sigh escaped her lips, and now that she wasn't in immediate danger anymore, the words of the impaled man suddenly came back to her.

 _The security control room might be my best chance of getting out of here… But if disabling security is password protected, I'm done for._

"Say, do you happen to know where the security control room is?" she asked hopeful.

"Down the hall. Locked shut. Fuck knows where the key is." he gestured with a nod to his left.

"Shit…" she mumbled more to herself. When she was about to go check it out herself, she decided to ask one last question. She knew she should ignore the bizarre behavior of mentally ill people, but she couldn't help her curiosity.

"So… this Father Martin, is he a dangerous man? Is he violent?" She glanced back up at him and noticed he was looking in the distance, seemingly thoughtful.

"Hm? Oh, no, he's as gentle as fanatic cult leaders come. He talks… Now wait a second, why should I tell you?" He interrupted himself with a smirk and leaned down towards her slightly.

His demeanor made her somewhat uncomfortable, but she stood her ground and spoke as confidently as she could dare. "What? Come on! I'm just asking. Because.. well faith can be very important to people in an asylum, it can really help mentally ill patients, so if a priest in here has business with someone, don't you think he would really appreciate it if you helped?"

The fact that his expression hadn't changed and he continued to stare her down unsettled her, but she decided to not weaken the appearance of her fake confidence by looking away, so she waited for an answer and hoped for the best. He spat in the opposite direction, then finally replied in a casual, almost lazy manner.

"Think you're so cunning, huh, pussycat…"

His voice faded and she swallowed in anticipation, she had failed, an amused sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and remained silent. She wondered if he was just going to ignore her, or if he was only thinking, and if she should get out of his sight immediately, while he was not paying attention. When she considered the latter, he continued.

"If you tell any of his batshit followers that I said something less than kind about their dear leader… I _will_ find you…" he spoke in a low menacing tone, and she quickly nodded with sincerity. She barely heard him mumble to himself "If I'm still in one piece…" before continuing "Martin's so fucked up in the head he thinks he hears the voice of God. He speaks with tenderness and compassion, then turns round, slices you up and hangs you on a cross. That what you wanted to hear?"

That was definitely not what she wanted to hear.

 _God.. The last thing I want now is to start stumbling through this madhouse while there's a fanatical maniac and his cult roaming around, wanting God knows what from me. I didn't want to do this but I'd rather risk calling the police than venturing further into this place._

She mumbled a "no", more to herself, then pulled the pieces of her phone out of her pocket. Carefully, she slid in the tiny SIM card, then positioned the battery. Just as she was about to snap it in place, she almost jumped when the man above interjected loudly.

"The fuck you think you're doing?"

She paused, but didn't look away from the phone. "I'm sorry, I'd rather call the police and risk getting arrested for trespassing. Even if I could get into the control room, I highly doubt I can slice my way through Murkoff's security to open the doors, so it's pointless to even try."

"You're serious? Holy shit pussycat, look at the fucking phones in this place! They're all dead! No signal on anything. Don't you think some of us tried calling for help, while others were getting their fucking heads ripped off by Walker? The phones, the radios, the internet, they're deader than the scumbags lying around here!" he shouted while gesturing towards the phone on the reception desk whose handset was hanging down and beeping, then towards the bodies of dead employees lying around the lobby.

His words were painful to listen to, but she could see he was truthful. She bit her tongue not to cuss out loud and gently removed her phone's SIM card and placed everything back in her pocket, realizing that she was in even deeper trouble than she thought.

"How?" She managed to ask, trying to hide the distress in her voice, but not doing a good job at it.

"Jammers. They have all sorts of frequency blockers. Murkoff must have them go online when shit hits the fan, an emergency like this, phone lines go down, internet dies, lockdown kicks in, and no one gets out… Contain the chaos, then bring in their little squads of wannabe tactical cops to put us down like dogs… Crisis averted…" The mellow tone in his voice made her wary, her feeling confirmed accurate when he suddenly shouted.

"That didn't work out so well this time, huh, motherfuckers?! Contain this you pieces of shit! If any of you are out there still alive and hear me, I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna fucking skin you alive and bleed you dry!" he turned and gestured around in an agitated manner like a mad man, then began pacing the hallway above furiously.

If Alyssa wasn't scared of him before, now she was terrified; she thanked whatever power out there that she didn't work in the asylum, or even that he found her and didn't believe she worked there, otherwise, she didn't even want to think about it. The way he paced above her, especially as his glance occasionally landed back on her, made her feel like she was a deer being cornered by a wolf.

The hallway to her right looked tempting, if only just to put some distance between them, but she imagined stepping out of his sight and immediately hearing him scream at her and find a way down after her, it made her decide against it and wait until after he was calmed down, then try to make her way out discreetly. But she wondered if he would really come down after her, it was quite a long way to the ground floor, the lingering pain in her body from when she crash landed attested to that statement, and the path to the stairs was still blocked.

Even so, she didn't put jumping down from that distance past him, the man already proved himself volatile and dangerous, jumping down several meters to come after her if he deemed he had good enough reasons didn't seem too unlikely at the time. Besides, who was to say he didn't know another way downstairs, it was likely he knew his way around the asylum, at least certainly better than she did.

She let out a deep, quiet sigh, and threw a quick glance at him, her muscles unconsciously relaxed somewhat upon seeing that he had stopped pacing and appeared to be more calm.

Without thinking, she asked timidly "Hey.. I was wondering.. What do you know about Murkoff? I mean, have you heard anything about them from the inside here, what they're doing precisely? Anything incriminating? I'm looking for anything useful, including clues." with her voice perhaps a little too low, she hoped he heard her.

She watched as he leaned back on the window frame and let out a raspy exhale before replying while staring blankly in the directly of the front doors

"Bunch of corporate cunts.. much like the rest of corporate cunts.. Except these ones got so filthy rich and powerful by shaking hands with politicians under the table. Murkoff sells them their biometric tech, then the government talking-heads incorporate it into society by making it trendy and shit.. Fingerprint and voice id activated phones, computers, TVs, even guns for fuck sake. Eye scans for garage doors and fucking dog houses. Facial recognition in dumb stuff like video games, they market them as cool and shit or for security. And you know what the idiots out there do? They fucking gobble all that shit up! …Makes me fucking sick! They install it everywhere, cameras, prints, voice and face id recognition machines are popping up in every building on every street until one day you wake up and can't take a shit in your own bathroom without some snotty nerd at the NSA knowing about it! … Helping to establish a surveillance state… THAT's what Murkoff is doing!"

That was a mistake, her questions only seemed to agitate him, and she didn't have the courage to further clarify that she meant what Murkoff were trying to accomplish with experiments on asylum patients. She decided to agree with him in an attempt to calm him down, then try to discreetly change the subject.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty crazy out there.. Wish people weren't so easily swayed to give their private information away. I'm pretty secretive myself, perhaps to an unhealthy degree, heh… You… mustn't have been in here for long if you know about all that." She decided to try and change to topic before he started ranting again and made himself angrier. Then the document she found earlier came to mind, she wondered if he had any information about it, she considered it was worth a try, preferring to get as much material as possible, even if it was from a mad man, a broken clock was still right twice a day, as far as she was concerned.

"Hey by the way, does the name William Hope sound familiar to you?"

Her question snapped him out of his ranting state and he frowned in confusion.

"William Hope? Doesn't ring a bell.. Unless you mean Billy, heard some of the doctors mention him, something about making progress, don't know on what. Why?"

"I found his patient report. Some weird stuff about.. lucid dreams and somehow finding out about his mom's lawsuit against Murkoff despite not being told about it and I think being under some strict security." For a second, she considered taking the document out of her jacket and showing it to him, but decided against it, there wasn't much point to it, it wasn't like he could read it from there, and while it wasn't exactly solid evidence against Murkoff, she still preferred to not risk its safety.

"Don't know pussycat, I have a strong suspicion that weird shit tends to happen in loony houses.." he said sarcastically with a light shrug, sounding almost bored now.

"What about Project Walrider, know anything about that?"

He paused for a moment "… Heard Martin say that word, Walrider, a few times.. Don't remember in what context though, I was just passing by and I don't pay attention to his weird bullshit, but.." She blinked when she saw his eyes turn down to the left as if recalling a memory, and his expression changed, he seemed a bit unsettled, but she hoped he would continue. "The only other time I heard that word it was coming from some of the other guys. I was down in the Prison Block when I saw two guys running some distance away. I took cover cause I thought it was Walker, but nothing was following them. They were screaming their fucking lungs out, including the word 'Walrider', then one of them suddenly shut up, like, dead silent. I waited a minute, then when I went to see what happened, what was left of the guy was splattered on the floor, walls, some blood was even dripping from the damn ceiling, and steaming guts were everywhere. Got the fuck out of there on the double and avoided the area since."

Alyssa felt sick to her stomach and couldn't hide her grimace "What in the world… I assume you don't know what caused that?"

"Not a clue, maybe the fucker swallowed a grenade or something, would explain painting the walls with his guts." He replied now casually.

 _Are you kidding me, people exploding? Either this guy is crazier than he seems and he was hallucinating or something, or the doctors put some sort of explosive devices in the patients in case they get out of control like in some sick movie. But if that were the case, how come some of them are roaming around and killing the staff? How come this guy is still alive? Christ, to hell with this, I need to find that control room and see how I can open those doors._

"Well.. whatever the case, I'm gonna go ahead and try to find a way out of here. Until then, watch yourself, alright? Some of your comrades here don't seem too friendly judging from these corpses." she tried to speak casually and began walking to the corridor where he said the security control room was.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He interjected in a low voice, and she stopped, her heartbeat quickening slightly at his sudden threatening tone. When she glanced back at him, she was met with icy cold eyes staring her down, accompanied by a dead serious expression. Not wanting to seem even more vulnerable than she appeared, she stared back with a blank expression and didn't budge before replying.

"Like I said, gotta find a way out, I'll start with checking out the control room, maybe there's a chance I can get security down so we can get out of this place.."

He paused as his gaze traveled across her body from head to toe, stopping in certain areas and making her more than a little uncomfortable

"You're not going anywhere, stay right there and don't move till I get to you… I haven't had anything fresh to fuck in forever, I'll fuck your little reckless pussy till you're crying for more."

That was it, her eyes shot wide and she ran as fast as her legs could take her down the corridor while praying he would not jump down and chase her. There was no crashing or landing sound, but she didn't trust it, she ran to the end of the hallway which was partially enveloped in darkness, then went into the last room, closed the door and blocked it with her body.

 _Shit, I should've seen something like that coming! It's not like I trusted him, but, he didn't seem.. dammit!_ She tried to calm her pounding heart and steady her breath before quickly examining the room she was in. A moment of fright took over, considering that she might not be alone in the darkness, until the camcorder's nightvision proved that wrong. The area seemed like a more or less intact recreation room, with a large plasma TV, coffee table and couches, shelves stacked with books and even a pool table.

A bright flash of greenish white illuminated the whole room for a fraction of a second, she jumped, then felt silly when she realized it was just lightning. She approached the windows to confirm it, the sky had gotten significantly darker and it had indeed started raining.

 _Great, now even if I get the doors open I'll get soaked until I reach my car.. what if it gets stuck in the mud too? That's the last thing I.. oh who am I kidding, I wish I had that problem right now, I need to get to that control room.._

As much as she wanted it, she couldn't get her body to leave the safety of the room, the darkness and being able to see in it with her camcorder was soothing, and the words of the maniac still rang through her head, refusing her peace of mind and discouraging her from leaving. Before she tried to convince herself to exit the room, she decided to investigate it more thoroughly.

She bit her lip when she took a closer look at the windows and realized they were barred, all of them seemed to have been barred, even the ones above ground floor.

She moved along the wall lined with bookshelves and ran her gaze across them for any loose files, her index finger trailing lightly across the backs of the books, some of them dusty, until her hand froze at the second shelf. A bloody pipe was resting between books, nearly half of it suspended on nothing, about to fall down. She dared to pick it up and examined the object, metallic but thin, and slightly bent.

 _This looks like.. Ugh, let's be honest, this looks like it was used to bash someone's skull in. Maybe I should.._ The thought of keeping an object that was likely used to violently end someone's life disgusted her, but for now she decided to hold on to it, just in case.

Continuing her search along the bookshelves provided little to no results, she sighed in frustrated realization. _What am I doing, there are far too many books here,_ _I don't have the time to search through every one of them, what am I gonna find anyway? I could find more documented evidence, but at this point, is it really worth it? I have enough on video, and I doubt they would hide any keycards or keys inside books, whatever way this chaos started, it looks like they were taken by surprise. As much as I hate it, I'll have to search for keycards on corpses of security staff._

Before leaving, she tried to scan the room over once more, only to find the nightvision quickly fading. _At least the timing could be much worse_. She swiftly exchanged the dead battery with a fresh one inside the camcorder and the nightvision bloomed to life, giving her a much clearer picture than before. She scanned over the windows, shelves, couches, then as she passed over the coffee table, she was about to turn and leave, when something tiny and bright caught her attention. It was partially under the short wooden table as she discovered it, a plain piece of paper underneath a blue folder.

 _Maybe the windows were previously open and the wind had knocked them down?_ She picked them up and flipped the singular paper over just to make sure it was nothing important, then the text met her on the other side. Like before, she parted her attention between the door she'd come in through and reading:

 **_"From: Helen Granat_ **

**_To: group8416_ **

**_Subject: Project Walrider On Site Inspection_ **

**_Dear Sirs,_ **

**_The full report pending, no immediate action is required on the part of The Murkoff Corp. The profit potential of PROJECT WALRIDER remains staggeringly high._ **

**_The four fatalities contain enough ambiguous data to make any litigation, if evidence is correctly managed, impossible. PROJECT WALRIDER remains a dangerous initiative, and there will almost certainly be further casualties. As with the others, however, family and government interest in the patients is so low as to make any chance of legal actions vanishingly unlikely. Violence among patients is increasing as the Morphogenic Engine Therapy gets closer to producing working models, but a combination of physical and chemical restraints has proven sufficiently effective to assure continued control and profit._ **

**_Respectfully,_ **

**_Helen Granat_ **

**_Murkoff Legal Mitigation Dept."_ **

_This again! Project Walrider, what is it and what are they doing here?! One thing's for sure, they just admitted to, at the very least, trying to cover up the deaths of patients, patients that they're experimenting on illegally. Violence increasing.. so they were well aware that they're putting staff at risk too but didn't stop. But how do they expect to make "staggeringly high" profit off of crazy people? Perhaps Murkoff has connections with some really powerful people that demand some sort of answers or solutions through whatever experiments they're subjecting people to. And maybe I'm going crazy here too, but I have a strong feeling they're not trying to find the cure for cancer here or anything that would benefit humanity. Restraints assuring continued control? Yeah, tell that to the corpses in the lobby.. But.. I'm not surprised it says family and government interest in the patients is very low. No one cares about crazy people.. Once they lose their mind, they're shunned out of society, deemed useless and shoved into asylums where things like this could be happening and no one would have a clue, nor care to get a clue.._

After a deep exhale with a sliver of sadness, she placed the paper in her jacket pocket, thinking that every bit of evidence like this could help diminish the chances Murkoff executives had of avoiding very long prison sentences. When she examined the blue folder more closely, she noticed one corner of it was dark and wet. The information inside had priority though, so she placed the discovery in the back of her mind and began reading the contents, again keeping some of her attention towards the door.

 **_"MURKOFF PSYCHIATRIC SYSTEMS_ **

**_PROJECT WALRIDER_ **

**_Mount Massive CO_ **

**_Case Number: 153_ **

**_Patient: DANIEL STEELE_ **

**_Consultation Dated: 2013.05.19_ **

**_Initial Date of Patient Consult: 2009.03.07_ **

**_Patient Age: 33_ **

**_Gender: Male_ **

**_Observing Physician: Dr. Leona Hanson_ **

**_THERAPY STATUS:_ **

**_Morphogenic Engine activity steadily progressed to 1300 ppm then inexplicably dropped abruptly. Minimal additional development, lucid state occasional but highly unstable. Stage 3 hormone schedule recommended._ **

**_DIAGNOSTICS:_ **

**_Spirometry revealed medium bronchial accumulation. Irregular NREM cycles and low REM activity._ **

**_INTERVIEW NOTES:_ **

**_Steele's transport from the ADX Supermax Prison has been troublesome. He had confessed to conspiring with other inmates in transit and crashing the bus off the highway, causing 7 escapes of highly dangerous convicts. Patient was apprehended by police hours later, by which time he had already murdered three correctional officers by piercing non-vital organs and causing lethal blood loss. At Mount Massive Asylum, he expressed minimum self-mutilation with the exception of a self-inflicted incision in the shape of a down pointing triangle under his clavicle. When questioned about it, patient responded with expletives and refused to continue the interview. Steele's behavior continues to be increasingly uncooperative._ **

**_MURKOFF PSYCHIATRIC SYSTEMS PROJECT WALRIDER_ **

**_Mount Massive CO"_ **

_Wait a second, could this be?.. This is his Patient Report, isn't it? The scar I saw on his chest.. Jesus Christ, he was a supermax inmate?!_ Alyssa felt her knees weaken in fear. _How did someone like him manage to get transferred from a maxpen to a mental asylum? He doesn't even seem like a.. normal? crazy person from what I noticed so far.. Maybe he fooled people into thinking he's insane to get out of prison and get into a place much easier to escape from?_ She swallowed and threw a glance over her shoulder towards the door, still closed firmly.

As she prepared to leave, however, she noticed through the nightvision a trail of darkness scattered on the hardwood floor and some of the carpet. Her heart quickened, she'd seen that very dark shade of green not long ago and it wasn't a pleasant memory. With fingers beginning to quiver slightly, she took the Patient Report out of the folder and placed it inside the blue folder in her jacket next to the other files she'd gathered, placed the other empty folder back on the coffee table, then cautiously followed the trail towards a long couch near the corner of the room.

The back of the couch was roughly three feet away from the wall, she leaned over with her camcorder to get on film whatever next horror she was about to discover. She had only glanced at the sight for half a second before she swiftly turned her head away grimacing and tightly squeezed the pipe she held out of reflex. The camcorder was still aimed on the scene, she told herself that was enough, but a morbid sense of curiosity compelled her to have a closer look for herself.

She gave in and glanced back at the sight through the camcorder with hesitation. The woman's corpse on the floor looked relatively recent, there was no smell coming from it, only the moderately large puddle of blood it was resting on, concentrated under her head. What was left of her stockings and underwear were torn, along with her professional attire skirt, partially ripped, lifted around her waist.

Alyssa shuddered and looked away momentarily, it was clear what they did to the woman, and she tried to keep at bay the thought, but failed.

 _This could easily be me if I don't find a way out soon.._


	4. Chapter 4

She took one last glance at the victim, noticing the hands tied together at the back with what looked like a thin belt, and then the uneven and broken shape of the head. Her thoughts quickly went to the bloody pipe in her hand, and upon realization, she immediately dropped the object, overwhelmed with revulsion and fear. It clanged on the floor and echoed faintly, then, with the door in her sights, she dashed to it and swung it open, careless of any noise she was making.

It proved a huge mistake, not three steps out the door, a figure suddenly turned the corner and began walking down the hallway towards her. If she wasn't panicking before, now her heart was pummeling overtime, she rushed back inside the room and quickly shut the door as silently as her shaking hands allowed.

 _Is that Steele?! Has he found a way down, has he been looking for me?! Oh my god, I need to- where do I- there's nowhere to run, I need to hide, I need to-_

"Ksksksks" Her frantic thoughts were interrupted by the strange noise the man was making, as if he was trying to lure a skittish animal towards him.

With the sound and footsteps nearing, she realized she didn't have time to stand and think, she dashed towards the pool table in the corner of the room and squeezed behind it. It was a tight fit between the pool table and the wall, but she managed to crouch down near the edge and peek from behind it towards the door. The realization of how risky it was also hit her, if he did see her, it would be a hassle to squeeze back out of the tight space she stuck herself in, let alone quick enough to not be caught.

Suddenly, the door swung open hard and banged against the wall, with a low amount of light from the hallway invading the room, mostly blocked by Steele's tall ominous shadow stretching across the floor. At that point, her heart felt like it was banging so hard in her ears she was afraid he might hear it, no amount of slow deep breathing seemed to calm it.

The man stepped inside the room and began pacing lazily

"It's nothing personal, you know, Martin just promised me a piece of you if I help him set you on your path. Whatever the fuck that means, don't care, sure is nice to not have to fuck a corpse like the other guys though, to say the least, I ain't gonna sink that low.." He sniffled and rolled his shoulders, emitting a faint popping noise, then stopped in his tracks. A grunt, followed by a loud smashing and crashing sound shook the room along with her body.

From where she was crouching, she could barely believe her eyes when she saw the large sturdy armchair being chucked across the room and smashed into the suspended TV. She bit the inside of her cheek to remain silent, her breath becoming frantic and heart feeling like it was going to pound its way out of her chest any moment.

"I'm not fucking playing around! You're only pissing me off more by hiding, and the more you piss me off the longer I'm gonna keep you alive!" At first thought, she was confused, but quickly realized the reasons he would keep her alive for and nearly choked. She didn't have time to envision any nightmare scenarios, the scraping noise right next to her snapped her to the present moment.

A panicked scream escaped her throat both out of shock and horror when the huge pool table beside her was dragged away and flipped on its side

"Much better." he said as she began scrambling away, trying to get on her feet, but immediately felt his tight grip around her ankle.

"No! Please, I told you I'm here to help!" she kicked her legs around to escape his grasp and frantically searched with her hands for anything to grab.

"Oh you'll help me alright."

Because of her constant kicking and squirming, he was unable to get a hold of her other ankle. Right then, she couldn't express how much she regretted dropping that pipe she was holding onto earlier, she couldn't shake the thought that one stupid little mistake, even done out of emotion rather than rational thought, was going to cost her her life, likely not without tremendous suffering before being put out of her misery.

The light from the opened door allowed her a glance towards the pool of blood from the woman's corpse behind the couch and her eyes began watering, she was really about to become like her or worse. It was an unacceptable possibility, so she refused to stop fighting it.

Out of blind luck rather than any skill, her wildly swinging foot connected with Steele's face, so hard it would've hurt her foot if she wasn't wearing thick boots. He grunted in pain, covering his nose with his hand, and for an instant, his grip on her ankle loosened.

Taking advantage of it, she kicked him in the head once again as hard as she could, loosening his grip further, enough to allow her to slip out of his grasp completely and scramble to her feet. She sprinted out the door and zoomed down the hallway as fast as her legs could take her, the man furiously shouting behind her

"You slippery little whore, you'll beg me to kill you!"

His voice didn't remain in the distance for long, she threw a glance over her shoulder to see him quickly catching up to her, blood trailing from his nose. As she reached the end of the hallway and passed by the elevator, straight ahead she noticed the closed wire gate leading to the second long hallway. It was already too late to turn and find another way around, she braced for impact and summoned what little extra strength she could direct to her legs for a boost of speed, then crashed her body, shoulder first, against the gate.

The impact rattled her body harshly and she winced in pain, but the gate was forced open, not without momentarily losing her balance and landing on her knees. Her lungs and heart felt like they were on fire, but the rapidly approaching thumping of heavy steps from the enraged madman behind encouraged her to pick herself up and keep running.

A desk stuck across the hallway blocked her path and slowed her down as she managed to vault over it with some clumsiness, her eyes searching for anything she could use, something to push or topple over behind her to slow down the pursuer. There was nothing, a small stool next to the wall that she had already passed by the time she noticed it, a broom lying flat on the ground, a metallic bucket she considered picking up and throwing back at him, until she got close enough to the object in the distance to discern it.

Another person, a man in a wheelchair, was sitting near the end of the hallway, his back to the left wall. In the milliseconds she had available to think, she was unsure what to think other than more danger to avoid, but there was nowhere to avoid, the wheelchair was nearly dead center in the hallway, she had to slip past it as fast as she could and pray for the best.

From the short gaze she could afford, she noticed the man in the wheelchair appeared very thin to an unhealthy degree, his head lowered, seemingly not paying any attention to her. For her safety, she hoped he was mentally gone far enough to not even acknowledge her presence.

Luck wasn't on her side, the moment she was within reaching distance of the wheelchair, the man lunged at her and grabbed onto her shoulders with both hands, stopping her in her tracks and shouting mostly incoherently. The words she could decipher made little to no sense:

"Get them out, rip them clean! You have to help me, please, the doctor is dead!" He sounded desperate and frightened, and she would have tried to calm him down and help him if she wasn't much more scared herself and in mortal danger.

Over her shoulder she could see the mad man was seconds away from getting a hold on her. Despite the patient's underweight and seemingly weakened physique, his grip on her was unnaturally strong, with all her strength, all she could do was twist around to put him between her and the pursuer

"Outta my way, you little shit!" Steele said and ripped the other patient's grasp off of her.

Immediately, she rushed to and pushed against the gate at the end of the hallway, then noticed the sturdy chain wrapped around the lock. Her heart sunk, she turned around only to see her pursuer throw a punch at the other patient's head. His body twisted with the impact then he was grabbed and kneed in the stomach by the other man.

As much as she hoped Steele wasn't going to kill him, she was grateful for the short distraction. In the few moments she had, she only noticed a door to her left that was nailed shut, and another door to the right. Although that one was closer to the men, the one she feared the most had his back turned to her, so she approached and opened the door as discreetly as she could.

Only one step inside and she froze. A group of three men were sitting in front of a TV set, their attention then turned to her, not one of them even flinched. The debate on whether or not to proceed raced in her head and a pessimistic thought crossed her mind.

 _What's better, get raped then killed or risk getting gang raped then killed?_ She immediately came to regret her hesitation when two arms wrapped around her waist from behind and trapped her own arms as well in a vice grip, followed by the disturbingly enthusiastic voice of the man

"That's more like it!"

She grimaced and began struggling to get away both from him and his breathy voice in her ear. "See, hiding is so boring, but I do love a good chase pussycat, especially when the reward is so.." he leaned in the crook of her neck and took a deep inhale, making her recoil in fear.

"P-please stop, I'm just trying to help everyone here! I told you, I'm here to get everyone to safety, why are you doing this?! Is getting out of this hellhole not important to you?!" she spoke loudly as tears began blurring her vision and he lifted her off the ground, beginning to walk towards the elevator at the end of the hall before replying.

"Don't be such a fucking killjoy! We only got out of our cages a couple days ago! We'll leave but.." his hand slid over her breast and squeezed tightly, she let out a sharp yelp while blood rushed to her face and she squirmed with futility. "Gotta get some things done first.. Guess my priorities are kinda fucked up, huh?" He laughed a carefree laugh and tears slowly began rolling down her cheeks.

 _This isn't happening! This guy is nuts but he really meant what he said before, and how is he so strong?! I fought off my brother many times before, but this guy's grip feels like a vice! Even that emaciated guy, how the hell?!_ She thought back to her playful fights with her brother, who even though was only 16, was taller than the average adult man and attended gym regularly for a long time. He was strong, but with effort she could loosen his grip enough to escape it, unlike the man currently holding her whose arms felt like a concrete cage.

Sliding down a few inches to allow her arms to bend, she scratched her nails on his already heavily scarred forearms, but he didn't even flinch, only continued walking as if he hadn't even felt it. Kicking her feet against his knees also proved fruitless, apart from being squeezed harder out of irritation. They were approaching the end of the hallway when she tried reaching for her belt. In her panic, she was unsure on which side she put the pepper spray and taser gun. Short of time, she grabbed whatever met her hand first, which turned out to be the pepper spray, and fiddled with the ring it was attached on until she finally managed to get it free. Much to her chagrin, the man noticed her raising something towards his face and quickly grabbed it from her hand.

"Oh your little toys, I saw them earlier, don't bother, they're not gonna help." he casually tossed the can behind him as a minor annoyance, the sight of it landing of the floor feeling like a kick to her stomach.

 _Shit, I have to distract him somehow, make him stumble or something, just anything to loosen his grip even for a second. If I pull out the taser he'll probably see it too, and since he's touching me I don't want to get fried along with him anyway._ The knife attached to her boot sat forgotten in the panic, she thought for a moment, then interlocked her feet behind his thigh, slowing his pace considerably. She quickly wished she had thought more about it and decided against it when he roughly grabbed her below the jaw and pushed her head back next to his.

"You're really fucking asking for it!" He spoke low and threateningly through gritted teeth next to her ear, she turned her head away as much as she could and, with difficulty, held back a sob. She tried to squirm again when he bit her ear, gently at first, then began applying painful pressure.

Suddenly, three loud bangs made him pause, turning both their attention towards the ceiling where the sounds echoed from. He muttered a "fuck" before increasing his pace and stopping in front of the stairs next to the elevator between both hallways and behind the lobby. Alyssa wanted to ask him what that was and what was about to happen, but she couldn't tell what scared her more, him or the coming unknown.

Some of her questions were answered when she spotted a man walking down the stairs from the floor above. Without even meaning to, she stopped trying to escape her captor and shifted her focus on the other person. The descending man was significantly older, in his mid-sixties, if she had to guess, or perhaps younger but definitely not aged well considering his deep facial wrinkles and heavy bags under his eyes. What stood out, however, was the large brown cross on his black robes, it stretched from his neck to his hips and from one underarm to the other. On closer inspection, it appeared to be made out of belts.

The man took a key out of his pocket, unlocked the gate before them, then stopped in front of them and spoke in a seemingly grateful and humble voice

"Thank you for your help, my son, our Lord will bless you."

Steele grumbled something then cleared his throat "As long as you keep your end of the deal, old man.." The preacher smiled in response.

Alyssa turned her head discreetly towards the man behind her, he was looking around in a partly impatient, partly paranoid manner, then turned to the preacher and spoke

"Let's get this over with."

The man ahead nodded and began searching his pocket, then her eyes shot wide open when he pulled the biggest syringe she'd ever seen, equipped with the rustiest needle she'd ever seen

"Whoa, wait! Please, y-you're Father Martin, right?" She asked and the grip around her tightened as a response to her panic.

"I am. Thank you for coming here, my child, God has shown you the path, but you are only beginning to walk it." Father Martin spoke in the same calm and humble tone, but the dirty syringe in his hand kept closing in on her arm.

"No! Listen, I'm here to get everyone out of here, I'm trying to help you!" She continued squirming and pushing against the man behind her to no avail. "Stop, listen, you're going to kill me with that dirty thing, I'll get an infection! Please, whatever you want from me, I-I'm no use to you dead!" She was nearly screaming now, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Our Lord will protect you." Was all the priest said gently before pushing the needle in her upper arm and injecting the clear liquid inside. She grimaced and sobbed, but neither men showed any hesitation while she continued struggling with all her strength, strength which began fading at an alarming rate after the priest pulled the syringe out of her arm.

"Don't fret, child, the path you must walk is a strenuous one, but the word of our Lord, the Walrider, is absolute. In His boundless wisdom, He has chosen.." Her attention sparked at the word 'Walrider', but her body betrayed her, the preacher's words quickly became increasingly muffled until her hearing failed her completely. One by one, her muscles refused to listen to her brain and relaxed completely, her vision being the last thing she had, until it too, rapidly turned into blur.

 _The Project… Walrider…_ The last blotches of colors, what was left of her vision, diminished as well, her eyelids far too heavy to remain up. The last thing she could feel was being picked up and carried away before her consciousness faded along with her thoughts. _I… really screwed up…_

* * *

 _The new intruder-_

 **_…_ **

**_Have to find it-_ **

_…_

 _Have to kill it-_

 **_…_ **

**_Need to try it-_ **

_…_

 _Too dangerous-_

 **_…_ **

**_Have to get closer-_ **

_…_

 _Kill them all! Keep them away from me!_


	5. Chapter 5

Alyssa's body lay motionless in the dark, cold and damp cell, until slowly but surely, her senses came back to her gradually. The first thing she noticed were the banging noises, distant and very muffled. She abruptly coughed and gasped, trying to open her eyes with much difficulty. Blurry patches of yellow and white colors danced around her vision while the banging sound was becoming nearer and clearer, she groaned and blinked several times in an attempt to regain her vision, with slow but progressive success. Along with the sound that she began to recognize as metallic clanging, she distinguished a muffled voice, a rushed muffled voice, as if it was in distress.

Suddenly, it all came back to her, in an instant, like her brain just switched on: the corpses, being thrown through windows by Walker, being chased and caught by Steele, the things he said to her, Father Martin's bizarre cultish talks followed by getting jabbed with a filthy syringe and everything going dark. Her body jolted awake in shock and fright, only for her muscles to scream in pain and the pounding in her head to make its presence known. She didn't have time to complain when she heard the voice again, much clearer, and distinguishably female:

"Open up! You have to let me in!"

Alyssa lifted her head, then her upper body, with great difficulty, and took in her surroundings and situation. The cell she found herself in was a three by three meter room with a gate straight ahead of the old, mattress-less and disheveled bed she was laying on. On the left wall, there was only a dirty toilet along with a small wooden cabinet that looked like it was about to fall apart any moment. A faint yellowish light flickered from the corner of the ceiling, allowing for minimum visibility, with most of the light coming from outside the cell.

"Ugh… what… who's there?" She managed to mumble after lifting a hand to rub against the pounding side of her head.

"Listen, you have to let me in, they could find me any minute, there's a key at your feet!" the female voice became increasingly louder and urgent as the cell gate was rattled.

With a few more stabilizing blinks, Alyssa's vision cleared enough to be able to discern the scene ahead. The insistent voice belonged to the woman outside her cell, who appeared in her late thirties to early forties, with dark brown hair in a messy high bun. She wore a black knee-length pencil skirt, a light blue blouse and an unbuttoned white medical gown which was stained with blood in places.

 _Oh my god, it's one of the doctors.._

Alyssa's hand slowly reached for the ground near her feet and began searching for the supposed key the woman said was there. The poor lighting conditions, along with her pounding head and straining muscles made things difficult, so she had to rely more on her sense of touch than her still recovering sight. At first, her fingers stumbled upon something larger, a shape she recognized as her camcorder, which she grasped with slightly confused relief and attached to her belt. The question of why they were allowing her to keep her camera crossed her hazy mind, she had no answer to it, but she was certainly grateful and continued her search.

After several frustrating seconds, she found the tiny metal key and attempted to stand up. Once again, her muscles protested and her head spun, she fought against the dizziness by leaning against the left wall from arm's length and approached the exit.

The woman outside rattled the gate and was about to speak when Alyssa did so first, her mind not fully lucid yet, but her tone heavy with so much condemnation it almost surprised even her

"Do you have any idea what you people have done here?.."

"What? Listen, I'm a doctor here, there was a breach in security and the entire building was put on lockdown, the patients escaped and they.. t-they've started killing each other and the medical staff and the guards, you have to let me in and lock the door until we can think of a way to get out of here! Hurry up!" The woman said, her voice increasingly frantic and pushed against the gate again.

Alyssa's head hung down with pain, the room was still spinning but beginning to slow down, while she leaned against the wall, with the key hanging from her other limp arm. Her next words were laced with less conviction but more disappointment, they began slow and low but ended loud and irate.

"So… you knew. Heard some rumors of the contrary but… it was no secret, was it? You people weren't sitting at your desks somewhere, writing prescriptions and ordering medication while Murkoff's employees put people through waking nightmares? You all knew and went along with it, didn't you?!" When Alyssa looked up, she could see the doctor's defensive frown.

"We-.. We had no choice! It was either cooperate or hit the road! Listen, I can explain later, right now there are deranged maniacs out here running around looking for people like me, they found me before and I had to run for my life, for god's sake please let me in before they find both of us!"

Alyssa rolled her eyes and approached the gate. The woman wasn't nearly off the hook, but she couldn't bring herself to just let her stay out there in the open for anyone to come and snatch her. A horrible flash of memory passed through her mind of the corpse she found behind the couch earlier and she shuddered, no one deserved that. Besides, she had to unlock the door and leave herself, eventually, after the pounding in her head and the spinning room both stopped.

The woman began looking left and right in a frightful manner as Alyssa finally unlocked the door and the other woman rushed inside. She handed the key to the doctor who then quickly locked the gate shut and let out a huge sigh of relief.

"What now, genius? We're two rats in a cage, we can't stay here." Alyssa asked, with a trace of naïve hope that the other had a plan.

"Give me a minute.." the doctor spoke then inhaled sharply and raised her hand to a spot below her rib cage. When she removed it and leaned against the wall, Alyssa noticed the blood stain on the woman's blouse.

"Are you alright?" she asked, now with a hint of concern.

"I'll be fine.. I've been stabbed with a pencil. Not very deep, but we should get some medical supplies. I'm Dr. Carla Meyer, by the way. Who are you, what are you doing here? And how did you get in?"

Alyssa sighed before answering, she didn't know if the doctor gave her real name and she had no way of knowing, but she was sure she wasn't going to give her own real name, considering the reasons for her trespassing. Regardless of the desperate situation they both found themselves in, she didn't trust her, she told herself that someone willing to participate in ghastly illegal human experiments on mentally ill people was definitely not trust-worthy, at least not in her eyes when it came to safety.

"I'm Katherine.. Climbed on the scaffold outside the building and got in through a window. Before you ask, no, I don't know how to get back there, the hallways were blocked and doors were nailed shut left and right.. Long story short, I came here to get evidence on Murkoff's illegal activity then take it to the police. They wouldn't investigate due to lack of evidence, or so they say.. I'll give them their evidence.."

Dr. Meyer looked at her with suspicion before replying in a hushed tone, as if more to herself "Well, that didn't turn out so well, did it.."

Alyssa frowned and shook her head slightly. "You said you didn't have a choice… What, did Murkoff's agents put guns to your heads and order you to slice people open or else?" She heard the doctor swallow before hesitantly replying

"It's not like that. I know it seems bad but, we.. we have families to feed. The doctors that refused to go along were fired, and.. I even heard about some that, you know.. disappeared? I knew one of them well.. he made a loud scene when he found out what was expected of him under Murkoff's administration of the asylum. No one's heard from him in months.."

The doctor's answer made her defenses lower a bit, she couldn't say she was surprised at what she heard, the silencing of dissenters was something Murkoff was suspected of for a long time. Still, it seemed to her that Dr. Meyer's colleague might have been silenced because he caused a scene that indicated his likelihood of revealing Murkoff's plans to the public.

"So you couldn't have just politely refused and looked for work somewhere else? You would rather choose butchering people who can't defend themselves than search for a different work place?" the condemning tone in Alyssa's voice came back.

"We weren't trying to butcher anyone, it was supposed to be a stable process!" Dr. Meyer raised her voice defensively before she continued "And 'can't defend themselves'? Are you serious, did you take a look aro-"

"You know damn well what I mean! Just because these people are mentally ill it doesn't give you the right to slice them up and inject them with chemicals or whatever crap you were doing here! It's sick!"

There was silence, tense silence. Dr. Meyer frowned, crossed her arms and looked outside the cell, while Alyssa took a deep breath, the pounding in her head had finally ceased and the room was completely still.

After what felt like minutes, the younger woman broke the silence and spoke in a calm tone "I.. get carried away sometimes. Things like this, just.. ugh. But this is not the time to have moral debates. Come on, we probably have a better chance of making it out of here together. You said something about medical supplies?"

Dr. Meyer's eyes widened slightly in surprise and relief at the change of topic. "Yes, there's a medical storage not too far away, I can take us to it if the coast is clear. Are you injured?"

"Not.. really. I've been thrown through a window from above the main lobby then jabbed with a filthy rusty syringe, but that's about it." Alyssa replied with a slight shrug and some sarcasm. The other woman raised a questioning eyebrow before replying

"You should take some antibiotics then. Are you sure we should go now? It's not far but.." Dr. Meyer looked around outside the cell cautiously "They could be anywhere, only a few of them are too far gone to harm us, most of them are lucid enough to be unpredictable and violent."

"Look, I get that you're scared, I am too, but I have bad experiences with staying cornered in one place waiting for danger to find me. We're better off moving, and quietly.. We need to find a way out, do you have any idea?"

Dr. Meyer shook her head lightly before replying "Lockdown is in effect, even if we could find our way to the security control room and get inside, we would need special access codes to disable the lockdown on the entire building."

A long sigh escaped Alyssa's lips as she realized the chances of escaping were even worse than she previously figured, then heard the woman speak again, that time with a hint of enthusiasm in her voice

"But there's the sewer too.. It has to be connected to the courtyard, if we could get down there and find the right way to go, we would find a ladder leading outside."

Alyssa thought the idea over before getting too hopeful "You're saying.. if we manage to avoid your patients roaming down there too, right?"

"I don't know if they've found their way down there too, alright? Do you have any better ideas?"

Alyssa shook her head lightly in defeat "From what I've seen, the windows are barred, there's no climbing down through them. Doors are blocked and nailed shut left and right, at least in the Administration Block I came in through.. Guess we don't have much of a choice but a stinking sewer then. Let's get going."

"Fine, but listen, just so you don't get your hopes up then blame me, I'll let you know it's just a theory. I'm a medical doctor, I've never been down there so I don't know for a fact that there's an open exit we could take, what I'm saying is that there _should_ be one."

Dr. Meyer didn't wait for an answer, instead she went to unlock the gate. Just as she cracked it open, she heard a chuckle coming from Alyssa and looked back towards the girl with a confused frown.

"You poor thing.. I don't even want to imagine what they'd do to you if they found you.." Alyssa said rubbing the back of her head, her dark sense of humor getting to her. It wasn't that she truly found it amusing, but she preferred to make light of difficult situations, and it just so happened that her humor wasn't exactly always friendly.

"That's not funny.." the doctor spoke under her breath as she opened the door slowly to avoid unnecessary noise.

Alyssa's voice became quiet as well "I know, I can't help it. When shit hits the fan like this, if I don't laugh, I'm gonna cry. I'd rather laugh while I still can." Dr. Meyer shook her head and shuddered slightly, she knew the girl was right about her fate if she got caught, but she too refused to think about it.

As both women silently exited the cell, the scene around them struck Alyssa. They were walking near the wall of a huge, square and open area, the entire perimeter lined with cells like hers, stacked three floors high. Not all of the cells were occupied, but the sight inside the ones that were made her recoil.

She raised her camcorder and scanned around with it as they were walking, she filmed the men in the cells, some in horrible condition, limbs inflamed, infected or missing, some with skin and face scarred and butchered to the point that they resembled monsters from movies, some bashing against the gates of their cages and yelling obscenities towards the two women, some muttering or shouting to themselves either incoherently or strange nonsensical things about dead doctors, wars and secrets. It was a chilling display of loss of humanity and decency that made her turn and glare at the back of the woman ahead.

"Did you know this?.." Alyssa asked trying to keep her voice calm.

Dr. Meyer opened another gate at the side of the room and walked through before she glanced behind "What did you say earlier? Not the time for moral debates?"

She followed the doctor in silence, but unable to suppress the anger and guilt that overcame her. _I was right, people were right all along… Murkoff really was doing this in Mount Massive. And I… I sat on my ass for so many months just thinking about it. Not doing anything. How many people were kept like this for how many years? How many suffered unspeakable torment and died horribly?_

Shortly after they began walking down a narrow corridor, the light dimmed significantly, making Dr. Meyer slow her pace. Alyssa turned on her camcorder's nightvision and scanned ahead. Another dead body. The guard's corpse lay near the center of the hallway, on its side, legs pointed towards them. She watched as the woman ahead kept walking, too dark for her to notice it.

Her mouth opened to warn her, but something inside her made her stop.

 _You're partly responsible for that.. Maybe if you and your colleagues hadn't treated sick people like disposable lab rats they wouldn't want such brutal revenge on everyone here, they wouldn't lash out like this if you had shown some basic human decency.. I should just.._ She bit her lip, then finally spoke after a short pause, slightly disturbed by her own intentions and thoughts.

Alyssa didn't see herself as the type of person to point towards the mangled corpse of a person's colleague and say 'look at that, you're responsible for that, it's your fault!' so she was confused and unsettled at the sudden change in attitude. Instead of standing around pondering, she decided to chalk it up to her recent traumatic experiences getting to her and made a mental note to keep a clearer mind.

 _Relax, it's just stress._

"Dr. Meyer, watch your step." Alyssa caught up to the woman and gently pushed her shoulder and guided her to the side of the corridor to avoid stumbling into the body.

"You can see in the dark with that thing? Maybe you should take the lead the-" she paused when she felt her foot brush past something soft and wet, then stepped in a shallow puddle. "Oh my god, is that another-" she questioned, fright growing in her voice.

"Just keep going, don't look down." Alyssa rushed her quietly as she too cringed when she stepped around and over the man's body and puddle of blood.

When they reached the end of the hallway, they were greeted by a bright light above two sets of stairs going up. Alyssa's pace slowed as she threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure there was no one around before she spoke with uncertainty

"Wait, what about the exit through the sewer? Are we sure we don't want to go there directly?"

"Do you want to get an infection? We need to get to that med storage first. Come on, not much longer now."

Alyssa touched her arm where Father Martin had stuck the needle in and she applied mild pressure, it still hurt ever so slightly, she nodded and followed the woman up the metallic stairs, while her thoughts went back to the strange things the preacher said to her, and the documents she found.

 _It seemed like a very classified thing, she probably doesn't know… But why not, worth a try._

"Dr. Meyer… What do you know about Project Walrider?" She suddenly asked, and tensed when the woman ahead froze in her tracks. She turned to face her slowly, her expression a mix of fear and confusion.

"No one from the outside is supposed to know about that." The woman's voice was hushed and her eyes momentarily darted to the left and right.

"That doesn't matter. You know Father Martin, the preacher guy? He told me some very strange things, they might have been the ramblings of a mad man, or they might not. He said.. that his 'Lord' is called the Walrider. Where did he get that from? What _is_ Project Walrider?" Alyssa dared a demanding tone.

"Katherine. Martin Archimbaud is not a preacher, he is a very delusional man with a long list of mental disabilities. It's just what you said, ramblings of a mad man, so I suggest you pay them no attention." Dr. Meyer answered strictly, as if scolding a child, then continued up the stairs.

"Every delusion has a seed of truth, doctor. What Martin said may be delusional but then.. Why is the name 'Project Walrider' plastered all over Patient Report files? What were you actually trying to accomplish in here?" her voice became increasingly louder until she had to quiet herself upon realizing that she could easily give away their location to anyone lurking nearby that might mean them harm.

"Stop it with the questions, I can't tell you! Even if I had the clearance to know the details, I wouldn't tell you if I valued my life!" Dr. Meyer's pace increased until they reached the top of the stairs and took a left down another long hallway, which was fortunately illuminated.

"Oh for the love of god, do you realize there's a good chance we're both going to die in here? What does it matter now? And who would ever know I've heard it from you? Even on the slim chance that we do get out, if this project is something even more twisted than what you were doing to the patients, no one would believe me anyway. There have been numerous allegations against Murkoff on account of human rights violations, nothing ever came of any of them, your dirty little secrets are worth nothing without solid proof!"

It wasn't only the fact that her life was in danger that caused Alyssa's patience to drain much faster than it normally would, it was also the sinister nature of the mystery and secrecy surrounding all the deaths and experiments, something felt wrong and it deeply unsettled her, she needed to know what exactly was going on.

"I don't know, dammit, I don't know! I told you, I don't have the clearance to know the details, it's just…" Dr. Meyer stopped and glanced back, seemingly staring at nothing, and Alyssa couldn't help noticing the shudder and frightful expression of the woman as she continued "There's.. something.. down below. In the labs. I think it escaped… I don't know what it is, but it's angry and very violent, many people died because of it.. William Hope is the only subject we've had that managed to exert some control over it."

Alyssa's eyes searched the woman's face in deep confusion and distress, she could feel her heart pumping harder against her chest

"Wh.. what do you mean, ' _something_ '? Like what, an animal? What in the world are you talking about, and where exactly, are we safe?" the panicked questions spilled out of her mouth rapidly and almost automatically as she gave the other woman a terrified but pleading look for more information.

"No one is safe! It's not an animal, I don't know what the hell it is. Look, when shit hit the fan we all fled, many of us were killed, but not only by the escaped patients. What I saw.. all I saw was something really dark, like a shadow, I hid and heard screaming, then when I looked back, all that was left were.. guts. Bones, limbs, body parts, gallons of blood everywhere.." Dr. Meyer's voice and lower lip had began trembling, she shook her head then abruptly headed down the hallway again at a rushed pace, leaving the other woman behind.

Alyssa felt her knees weaken and she stared at the place the doctor used to occupy as her mind raced wildly. Immediately, she was reminded of the story Steele told her, of a person seemingly exploding, spreading their innards everywhere.

 _So.. Steele wasn't hallucinating, this doctor had a very similar experience.. What the hell is she talking about, not a someone, but a something lurking around tearing people into pieces? No no no no, this can't be happening, I must be going crazy.. No! She must be going crazy, she's the one that's been here too long, both her and Steele must've been seeing things, it makes no sense.._ She tried to lie to herself, but it wasn't working, she knew that at least the doctor must've been telling a true story, and it struck a special kind of fear into her heart that she hadn't felt since she was a child listening to terrifying stories about vampires, zombies, monsters, and ghosts. She bit her quivering lip and unconsciously clenched her fist so hard her fingernails left deep red marks in the skin of her palm.

 _Have to get out…_ The thought came by itself as she stared into space.

"We need to move!" Dr. Meyer's semi-loud voice partially snapped Alyssa out of her terrified trance and she rushed to regroup, finding the woman in the doorway to a longer rectangular room. At each end of it were security consoles with a chair in front of their respective desks and monitors displaying footage from security cameras in the area.

"I.. need to wipe all the footage since I set foot in this place." Alyssa spoke, still in a slight daze, as she was unable to stop the thought rushing through her mind.

 _There's something below._ She approached the console more on auto-pilot than purposefully.

"Ugh, watch out." Dr. Meyer caught up and Alyssa was shaken out of her stupor state a little more when she finally noticed the limp and bloody corpse of the security guard hanging from the chair in front of the console that the woman tried to alert her of.

"You can't delete security cam footage from here, it has to be done from the main hub near the lobby. I just have to unlock the decontamination chambers." The woman said matter-of-factly and approached the console with caution to avoid the dead body and avert her eyes from it.

Alyssa ran a hand down her face in an attempt to calm herself in the increasingly worse situation, she tried to keep the desperate thoughts of sure and painful death away while the other woman typed in commands and passwords then took a card out of her gown pocket and sliced it through the slot in the console. Suddenly, the previously dark window behind the console lit up, revealing a small bright chamber.

"Let's go." Dr. Meyer began walking out of the room and Alyssa followed hesitantly, still unable to shake the fear that came over her just minutes ago.

 _It's a something, not a someone…_

They took a couple of left turns and walked inside the small chamber whose glass doors then slid closed behind them. Alyssa jumped when green gas began flooding the room from above and clouded her vision slightly.

"Relax, it's just decontamination. It doesn't mean we don't need medicine though, it's right around the corner, one floor up." Dr. Meyer said as the gas quickly dispersed and the chamber's glass door ahead opened with a hiss to a hallway with a right turn.

"I have a very bad feeling about this…" Alyssa spoke abruptly, her thoughts still remaining on the confidential information the doctor disclosed, trying to conceal some of the fear in her voice after taking the right turn, which revealed another two sets of stairs going up. Because of her mind racing with possibilities and paranoia, she failed to notice the disheveled state of the stairs, many of them covered in rust and squeaking hard under the pressure of their feet.

"What? We're nearly there, we'll get some supplies and from there we'll head down to the sewer and find a way out." the doctor replied and nearly reached the top of the stairs, Alyssa lagging a few feet behind.

She was halfway up the second set of stairs, when a loud creaking and snapping noise spooked both women. Alyssa didn't have time to question it, as the next thing she saw was the ground below rushing towards her face. Out of reflex, she quickly raised her arms to protect her head from the impact, which came within moments. Even though the distance wasn't as high as when she was tossed from above the lobby, it still shook her core, but the wave of pain that hit her the worst originated from her right leg. She couldn't help her scream when the massive spike of pain traveled to her brain and threw her into agony.

"Katherine?!" Alyssa barely registered Dr. Meyer's voice, she began breathing frantically and slowly lifted her upper body to identify the source of the intense pain. As soon as she saw it, she wished she hadn't looked.

A large, thin and long piece of the broken metallic stairs had penetrated the side of her right thigh, piercing deep into the muscles, and what greatly added to her concern was the already large puddle of her own blood expanding underneath her leg. She raised a shaking hand towards the wound, unsure how to proceed and opened her mouth with a trembling jaw, trying to speak, before she heard the doctor's voice above.

"Oh my god, Katherine, listen closely, that thing in your leg is too big, you need to take it out and use something to apply a lot of pressure, _fast,_ if you punctured your femoral artery you could bleed out within minutes! Hurry, I know it hurts, but take off your jacket and tie a sleeve around the wound as tight as you can, then try to make it back up here, the med storage is just a few feet from me." Dr. Meyer explained as quickly and clearly as she could while watching the girl below bleed and wince in pain.

Alyssa swallowed and tried to steady her breathing, the doctor was right, she had to act fast, even though the smallest movement in her leg intensified the already immense pain. Instead of struggling to take off her jacket entirely, she recalled the knife in her boot. She let out another groan as her shaky arm stretched to the side of her boot and grabbed a loose hold of the knife. With difficulty and some accidental scratching around her shoulder, she cut off the jacket's left sleeve and removed it.

"Ok, good, you can use that better, now: grab the end of that thing and pull out. It will hurt, but try not to wiggle it around, just pull straight out." The woman above instructed her.

She cursed under her breath and wrapped her fingers around the end of the piece of metal sticking out of her flesh.

 _Okay, okay, just breathe, oh my god I'm losing so much blood.._ Alyssa braced herself, arm muscles tensing at the ready. The moment she pulled the object only half a centimeter, an immense wave of pain tore through her and she loudly cried out, tears beginning to wet her eyes.

"I know, but hurry, do you want to bleed out there?" Dr. Meyer tried to rush the girl into saving her own life.

Alyssa bit her lip hard and braced herself again, with more determination to finish the job.

 _Just do it, it's only going to get worse if I keep failing._ She took in a deep breath, and tightened her grip. This time, she forced her arm to move in one quick straight motion. The pain was unbearable, multiple times amplified than what she'd felt until then, and she couldn't stop her sobs from erupting.

Realizing she didn't have time to waste, she quickly wrapped the torn sleeve of her jacket around the wound and gritted her teeth hard when she tied the tightest knot she could. It hurt, it hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt before, but the bleeding was greatly reduced. Seeing the large red pool around her body made her stomach sink, but she forced her sobbing to a halt and wiped the back of her hand down her face in an attempt to clear her vision, only to spread both blood and eyeliner down her cheeks.

"O-oh my god…" Alyssa barely managed to rasp with a trembling voice.

"Ok, you did good! You really did, we'll bandage it better when we get to the med storage, you just have to get back up here. Do you think you can make it past those missing steps?"

"If I can make it up there, why couldn't you come down and help me?" Alyssa began dragging her body upright, very slowly and carefully to avoid putting weight on her right leg.

"Because I don't trust these stairs after you went through them. It's your choice, you can try to climb back up or find another way here." Dr. Meyer stated plainly.

Alyssa grabbed onto the hand rail for support and pulled herself to her feet while making sure to keep most of her weight on her left leg. She threw a glance over her shoulder towards the dark hallways and distant noises of patients, then shook her head lightly.

"I'm not going back, not when we're so close…" She placed both hands firmly on the metallic rails on each side of the stairs and gathered her strength. Upper body strength what was she needed the most at the time, and also what she lacked. With no time to waste, she used both the support of the hand rails and her left leg to make short, small hops up the stairs. It worked, to a certain extent, her right leg still bumped into the edge of the stairs once in a while, sending short but intense surges of pain to her brain.

"Dr. Meyer, please tell me there's painkillers in the medical storage." Alyssa asked between breaths as she reached the top of the first set of stairs.

"Don't worry, I'll give you something, come on, you're almost there." The older woman tried to speak with an encouraging tone, not doing a very good job at it.

Alyssa hopped a few more times until she was met with the hole from the collapsed stairs. Looking down she saw the large puddle of her own blood, she took a sharp inhale and shook her head in an attempt to maintain as much focus as she could on the task at hand.

The hole wasn't particularly large, only two steps were missing, and they hadn't completely broken off, there was still a narrow ledge sticking out near the wall, but to her, with the way her right leg felt, crossing the gap seemed like a near impossible feat.

"Do you think you can trust that piece on the side to hold your weight?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I…" Alyssa muttered mostly to herself as she began positioning her body closer to the wall. The distance between the hand rails made things more difficult, she had to stretch her arms and lean across in order to balance most of her weight closer to the wall.

 _Alright, here goes nothing.. Please don't break on me again._

She braced herself and hopped on the short edge of the remains of the stairs while she tried to keep her body close to the wall and also keep most of her weight suspended by her arms, instead of putting strain on the unreliable piece of half-broken metal under her foot. It took some concentration, something that was difficult to gather with the aching in her other leg, but she successfully managed to pass the gap and make it across the last steps.

"Nice, come on, it's right around the corner." The doctor spoke and offered her a hand for support, which Alyssa took gratefully and slowly began walking into the short hallway. They took an immediate left, and then another around the corner, and there sat a metallic door, just a few feet away.

"Here we are." Dr. Meyer walked up ahead to the security mechanism next to the door and pressed a few buttons on the keypad, then took a card out of her gown pocket and sliced it down the slot in the device. A soft beep was heard, followed by a click, and the woman opened the door and signaled Alyssa to follow. Which she did, but not without her leg tormenting her again, despite leaning against the wall and putting most of her weight on her good leg.

After she was finally inside, the doctor locked the door behind them and walked to a medical cabinet ahead. The room was small, not designed for multiple people to move around in, with a few lockers, some tall shelves, a medical cabinet and much to Alyssa's relief, a hip-height table just within reach.

She leaned against it and slowly raised herself up on it to take all the weight off her busted leg as Dr. Meyer took a tiny key out of her pocket and unlocked the cabinet. She picked up a first-aid kit and placed it on the table next to Alyssa then began searching through smaller medication boxes.

The younger woman opened up the kit then glanced at her injured thigh, blood had poured down her leg, the bleeding was far from stopped.

"Do I have to untie the sleeve?"

"If you want clean bandages. Take it off and I'll wrap some on your leg, but we'll have to make it quick and you'll need to apply pressure. We don't have the luxury to stitch you up here, so you'll still bleed but the bandages will minimize it. Here, painkillers, don't take more than two right now. They'll block most of the pain for the next few hours so you'll be able to walk. Doesn't mean you should strain your leg though, it'll worsen the bleeding." Dr. Meyer turned to face her with a box of white pills and a small bottle of water, both of which she placed next to the girl.

Alyssa nodded and popped two pills in her mouth, drank some water to slide them down easier, then kept drinking nearly the entire bottle, she didn't even realize how thirsty she was until then. Dr. Meyer picked up the bottle of rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit, tore the hole in her shirt where she'd been stabbed to make it a little wider and poured some of the liquid on her wound. She hissed in pain and Alyssa cringed a bit, she felt bad for her, but at the same time she couldn't just ignore the fact that the woman willingly participated in inhumane experiments on mentally ill people. She took another swig of her water while the doctor set a patch of cotton wool over her abdominal wound, then fixed it in place with a couple of adhesive medical tape strips.

The doctor sighed in relief before turning to the younger woman "Ready for the bandages?"

"The faster we get it over with and get out of here, the better." Alyssa nodded, then noted with some pleasant surprise that the medication she just took was beginning to take effect, the pain in her leg was subsiding. Outside her vision, Dr. Meyer prepared the bandages along with the bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Alright, untie the sleeve and push hard on the wound, it won't hurt as much now."

Alyssa wasn't sure she believed her, not after the immense pain she was feeling only minutes ago, but decided to do as she was told, cruel experiments or not, the woman was still a doctor, and she was being helpful at the time. She braced herself and gently untied the knot and let the blood-soaked sleeve fall to the ground. Hesitantly following the instructions, she pressed her hand down on the wound with moderate effort. It still hurt, and blood began pouring between her fingers, but neither were nearly as intense as before. What did make her jump in pain though was the splash of rubbing alcohol that Dr. Meyer threw over her wound with no warning.

"What the hell?!" Alyssa hissed through her teeth and tightly shut her eyes momentarily.

"Don't complain, it has to be disinfected, and it's much better when you don't know the sting is coming." Dr. Meyer spoke matter-of-factly, it reminded Alyssa of her mother during the times she was being strict with her children. Immediately then, the doctor began wrapping the clean bandages around her leg. She removed her hand and part of the white sterile material soaked with blood quickly, but the moderately thick layer the woman wrapped over the injury suppressed the bleeding effectively. Dr. Meyer secured the bandages in place with a few strips of sticky medical tape, then stepped back and began placing the equipment back in the first-aid box.

"Thank you." Alyssa spoke quietly, a bit surprised that a doctor from the asylum had helped her.

"Don't thank me, we have better chances of getting out of here if there's two of us, and you'd slow me down with your leg." The doctor replied as she reached into the cabinet and pulled out two tiny glass vials with a clear liquid inside. She set another bottle of water on the table before she continued

"Now for the antibiotics," she handed one of the vials to the girl "We'll have to take a dose daily, but if we don't make it out of here by tomorrow.. we'll probably have much worse things to worry about." She popped the cap of the vial with her fingers, downed it then grimaced and grabbed the bottle of water. As she was drinking the medicine's aftertaste away, she noticed the girl frowning at the vial then looking around.

"What are you waiting for?" The doctor asked with some impatience.

Alyssa shook her head lightly before replying "I'm sorry, you have no idea how much I hate these vile things, there's no way I'm putting this on my tongue ever again. Tell me there's syringes here."

Dr. Meyer gave her a questioning look, but reached into the cabinet and handed her a syringe sealed in a plastic wrap. Alyssa took it gratefully and unwrapped it then popped the cap off the vial and suctioned its contents into the syringe.

"You're serious?" The doctor spoke with a hint of amusement as she watched the girl grab a small patch of cotton wool from the med kit, dip it in alcohol and rub a spot on her sleeveless arm.

"Don't question me! Unless you want me to vomit my intestines right on this floor, this crap isn't going anywhere near my mouth." she inserted the needle into her own skin with little hesitation, and for a moment she thought she saw the doctor smile.

"There.." Alyssa finished injecting the liquid and rubbed the spot again with the alcohol wool then let out a small sigh of relief.

"Well then, if you're done, we need to get to that sewer now. Put some weight on that leg of yours." Dr. Meyer spoke and placed the supplies and medication back into the cabinet.

Alyssa nodded and dropped the syringe into the nearby trash bin then gently lowered herself off the table. When she stood on both legs, her wound still bothered her, but not nearly as much as before. She took a couple of experimental steps, and while some pain was there, it was tolerable.

"I assume we have to go back the same way we came from?"

Dr. Meyer nodded then unlocked the door and walked out. Alyssa followed slower, then the woman began pressing buttons on the security device outside to lock the door back.

"Wait, don't you think we should leave it open?"

"Any patients get in here and they'll just ransack and break everything." Dr. Meyer replied casually but paused.

"What if someone's injured and needs supplies to stay alive until help arrives? It could be the difference between life and death, and maybe it's not just patients, some of your co-workers might be hurt and stumble across this place without access keys." Alyssa insisted. The other woman sighed in frustration and muttered a "screw it" then walked away from the keypad, leaving the door open.

"Let's get going." she spoke again, now with a hint of concern as they left the relative safety of the medical storage room. Her pace was a bit too fast for the injured girl, but she didn't complain, she just followed a few feet behind.

* * *

The darkness was spread around the Morphogenic Engine, floating idly; Billy was the first and only human who became able to manipulate it, but he was far from perfect at it. Now that he had woken up again and lost control over his share of the nanites, the Walrider brought them to himself and, with focused intent, added them to his skeletal form, on top of which he layered his bodily form. Not fully though, he kept some of his bones exposed, mainly around the spine, hands and feet, in order to use those nanites for searching and analyzing purposes.

The human in the glass sphere glared at him helplessly, he knew he was trying to communicate, but the Walrider blocked the connection and couldn't hear a thought anymore. Something he was grateful for, lately he was growing very tired of the unstable man's constant distressed thoughts, it was unfortunate he could only have silence when Billy was awake, and far more unfortunate that he couldn't completely sever the connection and leave.

Or so he thought, until a newcomer arrived at the asylum only hours ago. It was Billy that made the discovery, but he refused to share any details. As with all the others, Billy tried to approach the new human and kill it, but he had momentarily slipped into NREM sleep and lost awareness.

From that far away, the Walrider couldn't tell if the intruder would be a match, but the fact that Billy was so secretive about it made him suspicious, he had to get closer and find out, he had to find that other human who could be his ticket out of the asylum prison.

The pitch black humanoid shape floated out of the Morphogenic Engine chamber through a ventilation shaft then sped down the halls of the underground laboratory. His skeletal feet flew inches above the marbled floor, some of which was soaked with gallons of blood and viscera from the many scientists and guards Billy had recently killed. Not that he cared about their deaths, through the work they were doing there, they were only helping to keep him imprisoned, whether they knew it or not. Even if some of them were uninvolved, it didn't bother him, humans were both very fragile and easily hostile towards one another anyway, what did it matter when and how they died.

Apart from his host and the very old man, the laboratory was deserted of human life, Billy made sure of that in his rage, but there were still people above. He had roamed the grounds of the asylum before, but none of the other people turned out to be a match, so he had to unceremoniously leave their bodies, splattering their innards everywhere and continuing his search, he had no time nor care to be gentle.

When he reached the long elevator shaft, it was empty, but he didn't need a lift, he zoomed straight up through the tunnel, scattering some of the nanites on the way. At the top, the elevator cabin blocked the way, so he dissipated his body into a cloud and slipped through the gaps. As he stood behind the main lobby, he gathered his nanites but only assembled his skeletal form back together, then sent two swarms down the long hallways to the left and right in search for any clue of the new arrival. He waited patiently for any signal, then suddenly felt movement through the microscopic machines in the air.

The first door down the hallway to his left had opened and out stepped a man, wearing patient clothing. The human's fear was palpable, but it increased tenfold as the man turned and saw the dark skeletal figure floating several inches above the ground, glowing white orbs in the skull's eye sockets directed at him. Unsurprisingly, the patient screamed and immediately ran down the hallway in the opposite direction as fast as he could. The Walrider remained in place, he had already tested so many of those mad men, they all failed to be a fitting host, he didn't even want to bother with that one, but mainly because there was an untested outsider somewhere in the asylum, he wanted to find that one and get it out of the way if it didn't work either.

Suddenly, his nanites detected a faint scent near the end of the left hallway. Perfume? It wasn't highly unusual since females worked at the asylum as well, but he decided to check it anyway. As he approached the source of the scent and focused more nanobots on it, it grew in intensity and revealed its location with more precision, beyond the last door on the left.

The patient at the end of the hallway began panicking increasingly more and rattled the exit gate to no avail as the shadowy humanoid shape floated closer and closer. He was shocked but hugely relieved when it completely ignored him and disappeared inside the room next to him instead, he took the opportunity to sprint in the opposite direction.

The Walrider pulled the door open with the invisible force of the nanobots and slowly floated inside the dimly lit room. He recollected all the bots from the hallways then spread them inside the enclosed area for a more effective scan, which quickly detected the exact source of the perfume. He approached it and raised it in the air to his level; a blood stained pipe.

The scan already made him aware of a woman's corpse behind a couch, but after he examined it closer, while her blood matched with the blood on the pipe, the perfume was different. A human female killing another human female? Perhaps a patient? No, it made no sense, there were no more female patients in the asylum. Could this scent belong to the human he was after? Was he searching for a woman? There were no sure answers for the time being, but the scent was a lead worth tracking.

Unfortunately, even its highest concentration on the pipe was quite faint, he had a very weak trail to follow. He dropped the object then went outside the room and spread the nanobots many meters away and searched for the scent. The short wait was followed by no results, so he doubled the scan radius, using more bots from his body to increase the concentration until the light around turned noticeably dimmer, the air clouded by the large number of microscopic machines. Still nothing. Not even a faint trace beyond the one that originally drew his attention to the room. He let out a low displeased growl and quickly recollected a number of nanites with which he partially reshaped his body.

The asylum wasn't enormous but it was still quite large, with multiple stories and many different sections, he was unsure where to look first, then he remembered: humans are easily scared. Regardless of why it came here, it was likely that the one he needed to find was trying to escape after seeing what had happened inside the asylum. He knew lockdown was in place, preventing people from leaving, and from his roaming through the asylum, he knew the only other way out was through the sewer. This was really bad, if his target found the exit through the sewer and left, it wasn't far that he could follow before he was forced to return to the proximity of the underground lab where his current host was stuck. He gathered more of his nanites then rushed down the hallway to find one of the entrances to the sewer with no time to waste, he couldn't afford losing his chance to escape.


	6. Chapter 6

"How large is the sewer? How will we find our way around?" Alyssa asked as she followed behind Dr. Meyer. Back-tracking the way they came from was tricky with the broken stairs, but this time her leg was much more functional and they were lucky enough that nothing else collapsed under their feet.

"I don't really know, the tunnels could stretch as long as the asylum itself. We'll just have to go and see for ourselves. If there were more of us we could've split up to find an exit faster, but since it's just us I think we should stick together, watch my back." Dr. Meyer spoke as they went through the decontamination chamber again and they both averted their eyes from the window through which the dead guard's corpse was clearly visible.

"Huh, yeah, as if I could run away if I spotted someth-…" Alyssa abruptly silenced herself, stopping in her tracks outside the decontamination chamber's control room, she glanced behind cautiously and focused her hearing more intently. There was nothing, apart from the empty, poorly lit hallways lined by the cracked and dirty walls, some of them smeared with blood.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Meyer slowed her pace and gazed back at the girl, who began following again, but still eyed her surroundings suspiciously.

"Thought I heard a noise not too far away.. This place must be getting to me. Anyway.. if, I mean when, we get out of here, what are you planning to do?" Alyssa questioned with mild but genuine interest as they both continued towards the second set of stairs leading below.

"Me? I'm taking my husband and daughter and getting as far away as possible from everything that happened here. I have a brother in the UK, I'll talk to him about moving there and starting a new life. He's a nurse so he might be able to secure me a place at his hospital. You, on the other hand, what are you hoping to do? If you lay low after we're out of here, Murkoff might not find you. But you've been filming around, haven't you? Do you realize that if you put that video online, Murkoff will not stop until they found you and made you disappear?" Dr. Meyer spoke plainly as they reached the floor of the cell Alyssa woke up in. That time, they took a right turn and quieted their voices again when the older woman continued. "This way, the closest entrance to the sewer should be through the showers."

Alyssa swallowed and thought for a moment. She knew the doctor was right, she was fully aware that she would be in for a world of hurt if she messed with Murkoff well before she even left her house several hours ago. It had only been several hours, she realized, yet it felt like she had been trapped in the asylum for several days. A very difficult decision was going to await her, she had to choose between running and never looking back but allowing Murkoff to continue their heinous experiments, perhaps not only in Mount Massive but other places as well, in equal or more secrecy, maybe on hundreds of people, or put her footage into public view and hope that it was enough to ruin Murkoff fast, but greatly risk not only her own life but the lives of everyone she cared about too.

"I… will have to think about it long and hard after we're out of here…" Alyssa finally answered barely above a whisper.

"Just make sure to take out my face and voice if you got me on film and choose to release it. I know I made a mistake by agreeing to work for Murkoff.. I regret it, and the truth is, I spent most of my time in research labs, I avoided working on patients because.. well.." Dr. Meyer trailed off with a hint of sadness in her tone.

Alyssa let out a soft sigh before she spoke "Don't worry.. take your family.. and go save lives from now on." The woman ahead gave a quick nod in reply and was silent for a minute, until she abruptly stopped walking and muttered "Oh my god.."

"What is it now?" Alyssa gave her a worried questioning look and threw a glance behind them.

"I.. don't think this is the right way." The woman said hesitantly.

"You lead us down the wrong way?" The concern quickly raised in Alyssa's tone.

"I'm a medical doctor and this is the Prison Block, I very rarely had to come down here, let alone to find a damn sewer entrance!" Dr. Meyer slightly raised her voice defensively as she briefly glanced around.

Alyssa lifted her palm to her forehead and was about to complain, when they were both startled by a loud banging sound. Much to their horror, the door at the far end of the hallway they were on rattled violently, over and over, as if someone was bashing against it on the other side.

"Dr. Meyer?.." she whispered in fear and glanced at the other woman, whose expression was even more frightful than hers. She shook her head in disbelief as she replied "Just run!"

Alyssa didn't have to be told twice, she took off in the opposite direction of the banging door and did her best to keep running. Dr. Meyer quickly followed and grabbed her wrist in passing to increase her pace, but the moment she tried sprinting at the same speed as the woman, a sharp wave of pain erupted from her injured thigh. She whined in pain but made an effort to ignore it and keep up the pace even though she was almost being dragged by the doctor back towards the stairs at that point. After a final loud breaking sound, they heard a male voice shout from behind

"There they are!"

When Alyssa glanced over her shoulder, she almost stumbled and fell as she spotted three men emerge from beyond the broken down door and start running towards them at great speed. Her fear spiked when she heard another man shout even louder "We found 'em, Danny! They're going up!"

 _Oh my god, is he talking about-_

"Faster, faster!" Dr. Meyer's frantic voice interrupted her own panicked thoughts, as she was pulled up the stairs by the woman. If she could, there was no question that she would have ran faster, but the deeply punctured muscles in her thigh refused to allow her, each quick stride she took felt like burying her entire leg into hot coals then taking it back out for a fraction of a second only to get enveloped in intense pain again and again, the strain she was putting her leg through and the resulting pain were too much for the painkillers to suppress.

"I remember! The showers, I know now!" Dr. Meyer spoke unevenly between heavy breaths as she continued to drag the girl down the hall and towards the decontamination chamber again. She risked a glance behind only to see the three patients closing in on them. The blood in her veins ran cold when she heard one of them shout

"Doctor! You're gonna pay for everything, you fucking cunt!"

Both women rushed into the decontamination chamber whose doors hissed closed behind and right in front of their pursuers.

"Dammit!" Alyssa slammed her palms over the sealed glass doors ahead, they absolutely did not have time for the green gas that began flooding the tiny room. Dr. Meyer let out a short scream and rushed next to the other woman when a crowbar was shoved between the doors, cracking the glass, but not unsealing the chamber. Beyond the glass, they could see one of the men pushing against the crowbar and others taking turns kicking and bashing against the doors, as they continued their threats, threats which were mostly focused on Dr. Meyer.

"Come on you piece of shit!" The woman cursed and hit her fist against the opposite set of doors the men were behind. After what felt like forever, they finally opened, but the doors behind them only managed to crack open due to the damage and way they had been bent by the patients outside.

"Down the hall then the gate on the right!" Dr. Meyer nearly shouted and began running down the corridor straight ahead. Alyssa followed as quickly as she could by herself, she watched the woman make distance between them then stop near the center of the long hallway and slide open a large metallic gate. She frantically signaled her to run faster then rushed past the gate.

When Alyssa ran inside too, she was met with two sets of stairs, to the left and right, both going down several feet. To the left she could only see lockers, and to the right she spotted Dr. Meyer right as she was about to turn the corner, she stopped briefly and signaled her to follow again.

Alyssa dashed down the stairs, her panic increasing and her heart pumping madly as she began hearing the men's rapid footsteps approaching, they had made their way past the broken doors. When she was near the bottom of the stairs, she was met with the terrifying sight, a large amount of blood was smeared on the walls and lockers into words, words her panicked brain had no time nor focus to decipher, along with blood and viscera that painted the tiled floor. She chose to not try bothering with the words on the walls, but she had no choice in slipping and falling when she accidentally stepped on a piece of human intestine.

By the time she picked herself off the floor, she saw Dr. Meyer already far away, towards the end of the large room, heading towards one of the narrow hallways that connected in the back and that she figured must lead to an entrance to the sewer.

It was no use, the pain from her thigh spiked after her fall and barely dropped in intensity, the floor was slippery with blood and innards, the other woman was too far away, and within seconds the men following them would be right there.

Her brain frantically searched for a solution, the first thing that caught her attention was the large amount of lockers lined up on the walls. With not a moment to spare, she quickly dashed to the closest one right behind her, slipped inside and closed the door as quickly and quietly as she could. Immediately, the shadows of the three men crawled down the wall to her left as they ran down the stairs. Her heart felt like it was about to explode and her stomach twisted, she bit her lip hard as she watched through the tiny slits on the locker's door and prayed.

To her great relief, the angry men rushed right past her. She didn't have time to celebrate, however, as a few seconds later, Dr. Meyer's loud scream echoed through the large, nearly empty room and she heard a man speak

"No more running, bitch, I have so much payback for you."

Alyssa looked towards the direction the voices came from, the corner of the room, only to see one of the patients holding Dr. Meyer from behind, one hand over her mouth and one arm around her waist and own arms so she couldn't fight back.

"Oh my god…" Alyssa whispered to herself in shock, then immediately regretted it when she realized she had talked, only a whisper, but she still made noise. She reached for her camcorder on her belt and very cautiously raised it to her eye, terrified she might accidentally hit it against the side of the locker and give away her location. There was still light in the room, but it was rather dim, so she lowered the intensity of the camcorder's nightvision and recorded the men dragging the squirming doctor closer to the center of the room.

Suddenly, a familiar voice made Alyssa's breath halt "You found 'em both?" She clenched the camera in her hand tightly and reminded herself to take a deep, slow and quiet breath while she prayed it wasn't who she thought it was.

"Nah, just the doctor, but she'll do fiiiiine." One of the men replied with anticipation, jerking Dr. Meyer's head to the side slightly but harshly.

Alyssa turned her camcorder towards the stairs as more shadows descended, followed by the group of three men they belonged to. She found her lungs unwilling to take in air once again and her heart skipped a beat as the group approached and she saw him, the first one to come into her field of view was Daniel Steele, followed by two other patients.

The other two began walking towards the captive Dr. Meyer, but Steele took a few steps along the wall lined with lockers, walking by, inches away from Alyssa's locker. She thought she was about to have a heart attack.

"God _fucking_ dammit! I need the other one! Where's the little bitch with the big tits and nice ass? We have unresolved business!" Steele spoke furiously, and she quietly jumped when she heard him kick a locker hard, only two feet away from her, she clenched her jaw so tightly and barely breathed.

"Oh don't be so fucking picky, Danny! Besides-" the man holding Dr. Meyer pushed her to the floor roughly and spoke with a malicious smirk "This bitch here owes us a lot more."

Dr. Meyer yelped as she hit the cold tiled floor and tried to get up, but another man crouched down and placed his leg on her upper back.

"You ain't going nowhere, _doctor…_ " He spoke mockingly and Alyssa swallowed, she knew exactly where things were going, and by everything good in the world, she absolutely did not want to even hear it, let alone have to watch it. The words she said to the woman not long ago rang back through her mind with regret, she had made that little stupid dark joke about what would happen to Dr. Meyer if any of her patients found her. Now it seemed more like a sinister premonition.

Her heart skipped a beat once more when Steele walked past her locker again, took several slow steps then turned and passed her again. She cursed inwardly, he couldn't have picked a worse place to start pacing around.

"Please! I had no choice, Murkoff was going to kill me if I didn't cooperate!" Dr. Meyer pleaded loudly, then grimaced when the man behind her grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back. The other patient positioned himself in front of her and Alyssa looked away when she noticed his hand move to his crotch, but left the camcorder aimed at the scene. It was the last thing she wanted to film, she only did it because it was more material to attract the attention of the police towards Mount Massive Asylum.

"Sure you fucking didn't. Gonna make you wish you cut off all our dicks." One of the men on the sides spoke with some amusement and watched as his comrade ripped open the doctor's shirt and bra and threw them, along with her medical gown, to the side on the wet dirty floor, then roughly began lifting her skirt.

Alyssa felt so sick to her stomach, she didn't know why she kept turning her gaze away only to then take a quick glance back again, repeatedly, it was like a horrible car crash that she couldn't look away from. The doctor's next loud and furious words startled her, however

"You motherfuckers! You see why we did the tests on you?! We couldn't just take decent peo-" a hard slap across her face silenced the woman and echoed in the room before the man in front of her spoke.

"Oh, feeling talkative, are we bitch? Let's fix that."

Blood rushed to Alyssa's face when she watched with horror the man free his erect cock from his pants, shove his fingers in the woman's mouth to force it open, then thrust almost his entire length down her throat. Dr. Meyer could only make muffled sounds of protest and gagging as she tried to push his hips away, but he grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back with ease. The man grunted and said something Alyssa couldn't hear from that distance as he began pushing in and out of her mouth at a slow pace.

Some of the other men chuckled at the woman's silencing while the one behind her pulled her panties down to her thighs and gave her a hard slap on the ass, she tried to scream, but with the cock in her mouth, she only managed to make it vibrate with the muffled noise. The man moaned in response, dug his fingers in her hair, then placed his other hand under her chin and increased his pace in her mouth.

The man behind her took out his own tool and rubbed the warm mushroom head against her refusing but exposed pussy. "How about it, doc? Care for some 'reparations'?" He asked mockingly, leaning over her. With no way to talk, she shook her head as much as she could, which was little, with the other man holding her by the hair and neck. "What's that? I'm not hearing a 'no'!" At that, the doctor tried to protest harder, but in vain, as she couldn't make any proper noise. "So you got nothing to complain about?" The man didn't wait for her to squirm anymore, instead, he swiftly buried his entire length into her in one forceful motion.

It wasn't noticeably wet, but the warmth and pressure made him moan. In response to the sudden intrusion, the woman tried to scream, but once again only managed to pleasure the man inside her mouth, who groaned and began thrusting in a harder and faster rhythm. The man in her pussy did the same and started ramming into her quick and rough right off the bat while he tightly grabbed her hips for support and dug his fingers into her skin, leaving bruises.

Alyssa wished she could temporarily go deaf so she couldn't keep hearing Dr. Meyer's helpless muffled protests and the men's grunts and groans along with the rapid skin on skin slapping sounds. She shifted uncomfortably in the locker, then froze when one of the men waiting on the side spoke.

"You ain't gonna get in on the action, Danny? Thought she was your physician too." his attention was focused on the woman being taken from the front and back and he began palming his painfully erect and eager cock through his pants.

"I said I want to find the other one. Didn't you fuckers say they were together just minutes ago?" Steele replied impatiently and began gazing around the room.

 _Please, please, please don't find the patience to search through dozens of lockers right now…_ She kept her wide eyes on him while she prayed that he wasn't going to start searching lockers.

Alyssa's relief when he hadn't reached for any lockers was quickly replaced with dread as he stopped pacing and stood right outside her locker, his back only inches from the door to her little safe spot.

"Yeah, we were after both of 'em, they must've split up. This bitch here was trying to get the sewer lid open but she fucked up, so I don't think the other one could've gone down there."

She heard him mutter a "fuck", then had a mini heart attack when he leaned back onto the door of her locker, blocking what little light came through the slits along with her view of the horrible scene ahead. Right then, she just wanted to cry, she had never felt so desperate and helpless in the face of such danger, surrounded by predators.

As the sounds of sex outside went on, her legs felt weak and her head dizzy, unable to cope with the immense threat that was inches from her, only one thin sheet of metal and her own silence keeping her from it. The camcorder in her hand began trembling because of her own hand shaking in fear, so she quickly leaned it back against her shoulder, paranoid that she might hit it against the side of the locker and make the biggest mistake of her life, likely a life-ending mistake. She swallowed hesitantly and barely took in air to her lungs, short and shallow. In her mind, she was convinced that her pounding heart was making enough noise, she made any more with her breathing, and Steele would've definitely heard her from that close a distance.

Suddenly, he took a few steps forward, allowing her a small break to calm her heart. Her relief was very short lived, as she heard him speak to the others

"Hurry the fuck up, after you two are done, we're going after the girl."

Alyssa nearly choked, she covered her mouth with her hand tightly, unsure that she could keep herself from bursting into tears right then and there, her dizziness got worse and she had to lean back against the wall of the locker.

After what felt to her like forever due to being stuck in her tormented state and narrow space, a louder groan attracted her attention and she couldn't help herself from looking outside. She watched as the man in front of Dr. Meyer gave a few more irregular thrusts, then slowly pulled his softening cock out of her mouth, followed by a trail of white liquid. The woman coughed and whined, spilling more of it on the floor.

He panted as he softly gave the doctor's cheek a pat with the back of his hand "Thanks doc… you finally did one good thing for me." He chuckled, put his tool back in his pants and raised himself upright on unstable legs then leaned against the wall and continued watching her get fucked by the other man.

The other man who was close to reaching his peak too, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her torso up then shifted her hips upwards to get a better angle to pound into her. As he roughly grabbed one of her breasts with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her throat, he was surprised to feel more pressure on his cock, all of a sudden

"Holy shit, the good doctor's gonna cum on me, guys." he spoke with faux excitement and amusement between heavy breaths, and the other men whistled and laughed. Dr. Meyer bit her lip and pressed her hand over her mouth tightly to remain as silent as she could, her face flushed.

As much as she hated it, her body didn't know any better, all her pussy knew was the cock ramming into it, stretching her walls for too long, and it couldn't take it anymore. Her muscles tensed hard and she began squirming as an intense wave of pleasure erupted through her body, sending her into shivers and a struggle to not make a sound, a task which she almost succeeded at. The vice-like pressure and throbbing on his cock as she came was enough to finish the man off, he groaned loudly when her inner muscles milked him dry and he gave several more uneven but deep thrusts, thrusts which made the woman squirm harder before her own orgasm began to end, then she was released and allowed to collapse on the floor, breathing heavily. She hid her face between her hands and under her messy hair, bun nearly undone from all the grabbing and pulling, and whined as she felt the man pull his cock out of her, soaked in both of their juices. She didn't say a word when she spotted him in the corner of her eye wiping his softening tool on her skirt then putting it back in his pants before slowly and unsteadily rising to his full height with another groan.

Dr. Meyer's stomach sunk when she heard another man speak and step towards her "My turn…"

From inside the locker, Alyssa felt desperate as well, she wished there was anything she could do to help the woman, but she knew she was powerless, she knew the moment she made even a peep she would be dragged out of the locker kicking and screaming and it would be her turn. Just the thought alone made her feel woozy.

"Let's find the other bitch, Danny." One of the men who had finished with the doctor spoke and approached Steele, who nodded and signaled to follow towards the other man who had also done his business.

Alyssa's heart began racing again as all three men started walking in her direction, but calmed when they took a right turn and continued up the stairs. She was about to turn her eyes back to Dr. Meyer when she heard Steele's voice

"Anyone puts one finger on her without my permission, and I break every bone in your arms, clear? I found her first." The only responses were some cussing and complaining before the men's voices faded in the distance.

She turned her gaze back to the scene ahead, which was about to get horrifying again, the three men that were left in the room approached Dr. Meyer casually.

A naive thought went through Alyssa's head, she couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, they would at least leave her there, alive, after they were done with her, so she could go help her and continue down to the sewers as the original plan was. But would she even still have the will to escape and live a normal life after going through such an ordeal? She didn't know Dr. Meyer well so she had no idea, all she could do at the time was wait for everything to be over and pray to god they would not somehow find her and make her be next in line.

She had to endure it. She felt guilty for complaining, since she only had to hear all the sounds, and wasn't the unlucky recipient of all their pent up rage and frustration. But it still felt like torment, and it went on, and on, and on, at least in her brain, every minute felt like an hour to her terrified mind. At least she couldn't hear the screaming when the woman was being gagged. Then the realization that she was being grateful about that disturbed her, her display of selfishness deeply disgusted her.

From the relatively long distance, she could safely afford a long painful sigh, and retreated into her own thoughts in a desperate attempt to move away from the situation, even if it was only mentally. The noises outside faded out as her mind went to her family, only to bring more guilt to the surface.

 _I'm so sorry… Please forgive me if I die here… How could I do this to you?_ She knew that if her mother found out where she was and what was going on at the time, who was after her and what they wanted to do to her, she would become sick with worry and heartache.

After what felt like forever to her, the three men outside had finally finished their business. Alyssa watched helplessly as they recollected themselves then heard one of them speak

"She doesn't deserve to die…" Alyssa couldn't believe her ears, she was so relieved they weren't going to kill Dr. Meyer right in front of her, and mentally prepared herself to go check on the woman after they were gone. However, her gratefulness was cut short when the man continued "…this easily." She watched in horror as one of them picked up the doctor's dirty and exhausted body over his shoulder, the woman appearing limp and completely unresponsive.

Slowly but surely, they headed up the set of stairs away from her, then disappeared out of sight, only their voices chattering to each other echoed around until they completely faded out in the distance. She was alone. Was she, really? Her logical mind knew it to be so, all six men were gone, but her body refused to even entertain the action of opening the locker door.

After all that time, she could finally afford to loosen up, without exiting her hiding spot. She relaxed her muscles, which, in the midst of her terror, she hadn't even realized were very tense, and allowed her heart to return to its normal pace, or at least close to it. Placing her camcorder back on her belt, she reached for the locker door, but paused when she noticed how bad her fingers were quivering.

 _God damn it, pull yourself together, the entrance to the sewer has to be right around the corner! I'm so close… and yet…_ She glanced up the stairs through the slits in the door. _They could come back any moment…_

The wait filled with paranoia made her feel like she was going crazy, it had been more than 5 minutes, but she was still hesitant to exit her safe haven.

 _It's right there, for god's sake, I need to move! Steele could come back any time, maybe he'll decide he wants to check all these lockers one by one!_ The mental image of Steele coming back and searching through each locker until he found her struck so much fear into her that she shoved the door open and dashed outside before she was even fully aware of what she'd done.

She wanted to have one last look around to make sure she was still alone then find that sewer entrance, but when she looked back near the corner of the room, just before the stairs and only a few feet away from the locker she'd been hiding in, her eyes refused to look away, and she felt compelled to walk closer. She recognized the words written in blood all over the walls and lockers, she could read them clearly now.

"Walrider…" the eerie whisper left her lips, and she felt a wave of cold chills travel down her spine.

 _What are you?..._ The question came to her mind by itself,she swallowed as her eyes scanned for more information, but there was none, all the other scribbles, big or small, composed of the same word, over and over, all written in blood.

Unsure of the reason herself, she decided to raise her camcorder and film it. Taking a few steps back, she used the device to record the scene, then hesitantly turned her back and headed towards the corner of the room.

The narrow hallways from both corners connected into a larger room with multiple showers lined up along the walls, but what attracted her attention was the round metallic surface right in the center on the floor. Finally, there it was, the entrance to the sewer, at least one of them. As she approached it, she could see the heavy lid only partially lifted and slid a few inches to the side.

 _So Dr. Meyer was trying to get this open, but it was too heavy, it took her too long and they got her…_ She threw a glance back in the direction of where the patients had taken the doctor and shuddered. It was obvious that there was nothing she could do to help, she was by herself, she had no self-defense training, and no weapons except her taser gun, which wasn't going to do much when she'd be faced with several men at once like she was just minutes ago. On top of all that, these men seemed freakishly physically strong, judging from her past experiences with Steele and even the emaciated looking patient that jumped from the wheelchair and held her shoulders in a vice-like grip. She shuddered at the memories and told herself the best thing she could do for the time being was to get out and release the video to bring the police over and settle things in the asylum.

Grabbing onto the edge of the round metallic lid revealed how heavy it really was, she had to make an effort not to hurt her back as she pulled and pushed on it. After the opening was halfway uncovered, she slipped through and climbed down the ladder, but stopped when her head was just above the hole and attempted to pull the lid back over her, just in case the half-revealed exit was going to bring unwanted attention from potential pursuers, which now she knew were going to be a few. It was more difficult than when she opened it from topside, because now she had to hold onto the ladder with one arm, but she managed to get it closed without hurting herself or making too much noise. With the lid fully back in place, she cautiously descended down the ladder and into more uncharted territory.


	7. Chapter 7

When Alyssa reached the ground below, it was the smell that hit her first, hard. The foul stench of urine and feces mixed with the nauseating odor of decomposing bodies invaded her nostrils and made her gag. Out of reflex, she covered her mouth and nose with her hand, and was a bit surprised when she noticed a very pleasant and familiar scent in her palm.

 _Oh, right… the perfume bottle I broke back home._

She let out a sorrowful sigh and prevented her thoughts from going back to her home and family since it would only make her feel more regretful, she couldn't shake the feeling that no matter what she did from then on, her actions already put in danger the lives of innocent people that she loved.

As far as she could tell, the sewer was poorly lit at best, so she raised her camcorder with its nightvision to inspect the area better. She found herself at the side of a three meter wide tunnel, the bottom part of which was slightly curved, allowing a pale yellow liquid mixed with slivers and chunks of red to flow through the center. Keeping as much distance from the small filthy stream as she could, she began walking down the tunnel to the left where more light was present.

Only several meters ahead, and the stench in the air intensified so much that she could clearly smell it no matter how much she pressed her pleasantly scented palm to her nose, she grimaced and out of morbid curiosity, tried to identify the source of the foul smell. Only a few feet away on the opposite side of the tunnel, she spotted a closed wooden door with a window, and when she zoomed in with her camcorder, there it was, mystery solved. Dozens of dead bodies, in various states of decomposition, layered on top of one another, along with limbs, heads and organs, all crammed into that tiny room, with swarms of flies agitating above them.

Alyssa couldn't hold back her dry heaving, but she struggled to keep the contents of her stomach still inside and rushed away from the revolting scene and stink towards the light. The light which, when she reached it, proved to be nothing special, it only looked like a hub with more tunnels connecting and a round brick structure in the center.

Paranoia must had been getting to her again, because she began feeling too exposed, the area was too open. She quietly began looking around the center of the room, glancing down the four connected tunnels. There was nothing but darkness down two of them, she ignored the one she came from, but spotted a sliver of light coming from below another. With hesitation, she crouched to the filthy wet stone floor and confirmed it, there was a much smaller tunnel on the ground through the large one.

She frowned in disgust, she definitely did not want to start crawling through the filth, so she decided to have a closer look around the area first. It didn't take her long to circle around and stumble upon a ladder leading up, more than half of it broken off, but more importantly, the dead body dressed in a doctor's white gown right below it. Much to her horror, however, the deceased man was missing his head. She leaned away in revulsion when she found herself looking at the bloody, red and fleshy stump at the man's neck and felt her stomach twist, but then a memory came back: the heads she saw stacked on the shelf in that library.

 _Maybe one of those were his? Christ, this is so sick, who would do such a thing? Ugh, I have to stop looking at it, I already have more than enough reasons to never sleep well again…_ Before she averted her eyes, however, she caught sight of the piece of paper coming out of the man's chest pocket. She swallowed in anticipation, she wanted to check if it was something important, perhaps something related to the experiments and incriminating against Murkoff, but she hadn't even seen a headless body in real life before, she definitely didn't want to approach it.

After she made sure to film it at least, she gathered her courage and reached for the piece of paper in the white gown. It was surprisingly easy, not nearly as hard as she had imagined, which unsettled her, it made her consider that she was getting used to the horrors of the asylum, something she refused to accept, as far as she was concerned, no one in their right mind should be okay with things like that. Still, she picked up the piece of paper, walked away from the corpse and unfolded it. The area around seemed quiet and deserted, but she still tried to keep some of her attention to the surroundings as she read.

 **_"(Found scrawled in pencil on the back of an admittance form. Handwriting matches samples from patient "Father" MARTIN ARCHIMBAUD.)_ **

**_This God is real. What we've mistaken so long for ghosts, spirits, madness. We were only willfully ignorant. The scales on Saul's eyes were fear, and when you see beyond it, you truly see. This is the gift of the Walrider. The Gospel of Sand. The greatest sin in the world is willful ignorance of God. To receive a revelation and not spread it to the waiting flock. This place... To stand in the way of salvation is a sin for which there is no punishment too great."_ **

An exasperated sigh escaped Alyssa's lips as she leaned against the wall.

 _Father Martin and his nonsense again… Or at least I hope it's nonsense. On one hand I'd like to ask him what he knows about Project Walrider, on the other, I know he's insane, he'll most probably just tell me his delusions… Dammit! I really need to know what the hell Murkoff was trying to do here._

She folded the paper back and left it on the floor, not entertaining the idea of going back to the dead headless body and nicely returning it in its pocket. When she approached the small tunnel she spotted before, she was relieved to see it was empty of dregs, but still humid and definitely didn't smell nice.

Getting on all fours, she began crawling through the narrow space, which despite not changing in size, began to make her increasingly uncomfortable, she chalked it up to the tunnel being made of solid bricks, unlike the vents she passed through before, if she got stuck in there, there was no thin metal sheet to kick until it fell and she was free. Trying to ignore the claustrophobic feelings, she stared straight ahead towards the exit and the light in the intersection it was leading to.

Just as she was about to crawl out and up to her feet, she spotted what looked like a faint cloud of smoke quickly pass from the left to the right, about a dozen meters ahead. She frowned in confusion and wanted to rub her eyes, thinking she might be seeing things, but quickly stopped when she remembered she'd been crawling through filthy sewer tunnels, she at least needed to keep her hands away from her face. She shook her head, slid out of the hole and rose to her full height, then stopped at the intersection and looked right, no anomaly in sight.

 _Relax, you're tired and stressed out, it was nothing._ It was still with hesitation that she took the right turn and followed the tunnel until she was met with a blockage. Pieces of wood were sloppily nailed together from the top of the tunnel to the bottom, until they formed a wall. It was by no means solid, with various holes, including one she managed to slip through and past the blockade.

On the other side, Alyssa found herself in near pitch darkness, so she raised her camcorder, only for the nightvision to quickly fade out. She took the dead battery out of the device and dropped it to the ground then heard a few faint clinks followed by a soft plop. After she popped a fresh battery into the camera, it revealed the large room ahead, flooded with at least three inches of water beyond a couple of steps down, and more liquid dripping from the pipes on the high ceiling. Both of the two farthest corners of the room split into more wide, dark tunnels.

 _Ugh, at least it doesn't stink of piss anymore…_ She slowly stepped into the water reaching her ankles and took a few hesitant steps forward. Around the room were scattered metallic shelves, wooden crates and cardboard boxes, some floating on the surface of the water.

Zooming towards each of the connecting tunnels left her with a sense of disorientation.

 _Where the hell am I supposed to go? I need to find a map or something._ Just as she was about to pick a direction at random, she heard a distant smashing sound coming from the left tunnel on the far side of the room.

 _You've got to be kidding me, I barely just escaped a pack of lunatics…_ She rushed towards the opposite corner and hid behind a large crate, watching and waiting, but especially listening. A metallic clattering noise began growing ever nearer, almost like chains being dragged along the ground, increasing in clarity along with the thumping of her heart. Very soon, she was able to hear loud, raspy and ragged breathing, making her own breath slow in shock and fear, she recognized the sound.

 _Walker?.._ Her fears were confirmed when she watched the gigantic man walk out of the tunnel, into her line of sight, and continue straight ahead towards the next tunnel. In the dark green and grainy filter of the nightvision, he looked even more terrifying than the quick glimpse she caught of him when he grabbed and threw her through the windows in the lobby.

 _Wait, most people here should be trying to escape, right? What if he knows the way out through the sewer?_ When her body refused to even consider following him, she forced herself to step forward, very slowly and as quietly as she could in the ankle-high water. Keeping her distance and taking cover behind corners and crates when possible, she kept hearing Walker mutter to himself. Most words were hard to make out, but the first ones she could discern left her confused.

"..Scout the perimeter, then isolate the target." followed by "We have to contain it."

Alyssa eyed the man ahead suspiciously. _I shouldn't even try to make sense of what he's saying, he is mentally ill, after all.. but I can't help it, what if he really knows something? What target, what could he be trying to contain? Was there a virus that made the patients go berserk or something?.._

Her pace slowed considerably and her fear rose when he spoke again. "I'm coming. You won't have to kill yourself." She bit her lip to keep herself quiet and prayed that his words were just random noise from his faulty brain, and not hints that he became aware of her presence behind him.

Much to her relief, he didn't stop or look behind, he continued down the tunnel then up a couple of stairs and out of the water. She doubted that it was a good thing, since the noise he made as he stepped through the flooded area was masking her own, so without it, she had to be extra careful to walk quietly.

The newfound silence allowed for another sound to reach her ears, a metallic rattle, occasionally interrupted by a louder, more powerful hitting noise. Walker must have heard it too, as he took in a quick ragged breath and increased his pace towards the left turn down the tunnel.

When Alyssa reached it too, she remained in the darkness of the corner, discouraged by the sight ahead. The giant man was several meters ahead and rushing away, but that passage was significantly narrower, and brightly illuminated by fluorescent bulbs on the low ceiling.

She zoomed in with her camera, but she couldn't see the source of the noise ahead, then jumped when she heard Walker exclaim

"Little pig!"

Luckily for her, his words weren't aimed at her that time, since he was still facing and heading in the opposite direction, his target became evident when an unfamiliar male voice shouted

"Walker! Shit, listen man I was jus- fuck!"

The large man did not listen, Alyssa watched in horror as the patient dodged Walker's fist, then slipped past him and began sprinting away, straight towards her. The wall she stood behind stretched several feet to each side, due to the way the wide tunnel met with the narrow passage, so with no other place to run, she scrambled into the corner and crouched down, praying that the darkness would be enough to keep her hidden.

Her hand rushed to cover her mouth when the patient stumbled and fell to the ground just as he ran out of the narrow tunnel, unable to notice the stairs in the dark. Immediately, he let out a painful scream as Walker jumped and landed one foot over the man's lower back, crushing his sacrum.

Over the man's wailing, Alyssa could barely hear Walker rasp out "I'll make it stop." then lean forward and grab the patient's head with both hands. Through the nightvision, she could see it clearly, but she wished so much she couldn't. By the time she fully realized what was happening, it was too late and she was in too much shock to look away, she had already witnessed Walker tear off the man's head. Bones shattered, muscles and tendons broke, blood gushed and flowed like a river out of the neck and into the water as the body fell limp.

At that point, only several feet away from the incident and with only the darkness to shield her, Alyssa felt absolutely petrified. Wide frozen eyes stared at Walker dropping the head from his hand, then turning back towards the narrow corridor. Her heart was about to fail when he began glancing around, but miraculously, he seemed unable to detect her. He walked back up the stairs and continued down the passage. Slowly, her rational mind came back to her, allowing her to realize that it was possibly the bright light ahead that took away whatever ability Walker had to see in the dark and miss the sight of her figure cowering in the corner.

With some sense of relief, she stood up on shaky legs, any pain her leg wound might have wanted to inflict being clouded by the traumatic scene she just witnessed and was trying to recover from. Just as her heart was beginning to settle down, a few consecutive loud banging noises sent her into a panic again and she quickly tried to identify the source of the potential threat. Her fears were alleviated when she peeked past the corner and zoomed in to see Walker tearing down the metallic gate at the end of the tunnel, then taking a left turn out of sight.

As much as she hated it, she told herself she had to keep following him, since he seemed to know his way around the place and at least in her mind, it was logical that he would be looking for a way out of the asylum. She walked up the stairs into the lit passage and took a few unstable steps, only to slowly come to a halt and lean against the left wall with moistening eyes. The urge to crumple to the floor and break down into tears was immense, it took everything she had to hold it back.

 _Fuck!_ Her head smacked against the wall a few inches away, in heavy desperation and frustration. Somehow, things just kept getting worse and worse, she could hardly believe it, but it was happening. It was tempting to wonder just how much worse it could get, but she blocked those thoughts before she lost the tiny shred of hope she still had of getting out alive.

Suddenly, a loud splash brought her vigilance back and she quickly turned her gaze down the corridor. It didn't sound like it came from too far away, she followed the sound, with nerves on edge. Soon, she was in darkness once again, and standing in front of a doorway. If it wasn't for her camcorder, she would have kept walking, unaware of the four foot drop into the giant flooded cavern ahead.

Both the size of the area and the lack of virtually any light made it very difficult even for the nightvision to see in the dark at a distance, she only knew where to zoom in to find Walker by the splashing sound he was making as he marched forward. Without thinking, she sat on the ledge of the doorway and gently lowered herself into the water. Murky, dirty, and so, so cold, reaching Walker's knees and Alyssa's thighs, just a couple of inches below where her wound was. She began taking slow and careful steps, not just so the man ahead wouldn't hear her, but she also definitely didn't need filthy sewer water to soak into the bandages covering her wound.

Half-jokingly, she acknowledged how convenient it was that Walker had such a loud ragged breath, otherwise he would be much harder to find in the dark, at least when she wasn't stalking him through flooded areas.

The fact that she couldn't see any walls as she kept following the man began to unsettle her, looking around, there was nothing but the water visible several meters ahead surrounded by pitch blackness. The coldness was beginning to get to her too, she tried to zip up her jacket with one hand but failed, then settled for just pulling it closed and wrapping her free arm around herself, which, sleeveless as it was, suffered from the cold worse.

She stopped in her tracks when Walker suddenly rasped

"You're close, aren't you?"

The blood in her veins froze. Had she been distracted, making too much noise? Her heart began thumping as the man abruptly turned his head and began looking behind and around.

Alyssa wanted to disappear completely, but since that wasn't an option, she slowly, very slowly, started lowering herself into the water until it reached right below her breasts. She waited what felt like an eternity for the man to finish scanning around for any movement, his eyes well adjusted to the darkness now. Eventually, he turned and continued walking before mumbling

"Little pig, little pig.."

It made Alyssa's skin crawl, not because of the cold water, which she quietly rose out of.

A long minute later, she was relieved to finally be able to see a wall in the distance, it stretched very tall and out of sight into the darkness in both directions. That relief was nothing compared to the elated feeling that warmed her up from the inside when she spotted what Walker was heading towards.

There it was, as she got closer, she was able to fully distinguish it, a long ladder going up the wall with the sign "Exit" nailed next to it. What confirmed that it was indeed her dream come true, was the rain dripping from the open hole above, along with the sudden loud thunder. A storm had never sounded that good to her before.

 _Yes, yes, yes! I knew it, he was looking for the way out too!_ She couldn't help the goofy grin that stretched across her face, this was the first good thing that happened since she stepped foot on the asylum grounds.

Brimming with delight, she had to remind herself that she wasn't in the clear yet, she still needed to keep her presence unknown from Walker. Still, she couldn't help her pace increasing slightly as she headed towards the wall, maintaining safe distance from the man. She was eager to climb out and run to her car, evidence safely on her camcorder, but she told herself to be patient and allow Walker to leave first, afterwards, she would wait a minute for him to put some distance between them, then it would be her turn to climb out and never look back. Her overjoyed smile still refused to leave her face as she watched the giant man reach for the ladder.

The next moment, her whole world collapsed. Instead of climbing up, Walker grabbed the ladder with both massive arms and began pulling. The metal creaked, the bolts and rivets protested, but due to their old age and rust, plus the immense strength of the man, they gave in within seconds. As Alyssa watched him toss the lengthy ladder back into the water, she felt something inside her sink and leave behind emptiness. The loud splash only intensified the feeling of crushed hopes and desperation that overcame her. She remained in place, as if unable to fully process what just happened.

"Little pig, no more escape…" Walker's words snapped her out of her trance of despair and confirmed what her brain didn't want to accept, that all that time he was only trying to find the exit so he could block anyone's access to it.

She felt completely lost. Despite not knowing where she was going since the start of her journey through the asylum, she was now overwhelmed by a sense of disorientation that made any previous such feeling pale by comparison. The sound of water splashing brought her attention back towards Walker, who was heading away from her, about to completely disappear in the distance as her camcorder's nightvision was unable to pierce the heavy darkness beyond a certain range.

She shook her head, still with some disbelief of what just happened, and took a couple of steps back, trying to get herself ready to piece together another plan for escape. Almost instantly, she regretted moving, as her foot stepped over something round and unstable at the bottom of the water, causing her to lose her balance.

She caught herself fast, but not without stumbling and wavering an arm to stabilize herself, accidentally splashing the water loudly. Her heart did a somersault when she immediately heard Walker raggedly breathe out

"Come here!" and begin dashing through the water towards her as quickly as he could.

It took her a second to process what she had just done, that she gave away her position to a man she witnessed rip another's head off his shoulders not long ago. She took off towards the large wall on the side, but running through the high water surface was significantly harder for her than it was for him, especially due to her injured thigh, which, while not as painful as before, still felt rather sluggish at times, the heavy water only making it worse. Her attempts to go into a full sprint failed miserably and made her panic levels reach a new level as she began hearing Walker's frantic raspy breathing sound increasingly closer, until she could almost feel it on her neck. On a whim, she decided to try to reason with him.

"Mr. Walker! Please listen!" She shouted, but she wasn't even sure if he could hear her words over the agitated splashing they were both making, she wanted to try regardless. "I'm here to bring help!" She spoke between frantic breaths "If there was any sort of contamination here, we can let the police know! They'll take the proper measures and contain it!"

She was somewhat surprised when the man actually answered her, she half expected to be ignored then caught and beheaded.

"Maintain op-sec! Full black. Can't…"

Alyssa had no time to question what he meant, as the giant man suddenly leaped forward and grabbed her shin. They both fell under the water level, and for a terrifying moment, she thought he was going to stand up and drown her. When he rose to his full height and pulled her up with him by her arm, she wasn't sure if she should be relieved that he wasn't going to hold her under.

His next words of "Hold still" were barely audible, as Alyssa screamed at the top of her lungs when he grabbed the top of her head in one huge hand. Punching and hitting his chest and face proved useless, it felt like hitting a brick wall coated with a thin layer of rubber. Her panic went through the roof, the dreadful realization that he was about to rip her head off while she was powerless to stop him hit her fully, her frenzied squirming only barely able to somewhat slow him down.

As each passing moment felt like minutes in her petrified mind, a much more important realization came to the surface: insane and giant or not, she was still trying to fight a man, and every man had that particular weakness to be exploited when necessary. She figured stopping him from beheading her with his bare hands qualified as necessary.

Just as the feeling of muscles being painfully stretched in Alyssa's neck increased, she gathered what focus and strength she could into her working left leg and kicked right between Walker's legs. The effect was instant, the man grunted in pain, removed both hands from her and leaned over next the wall. She took the opportunity without a second wasted and began dashing through the water in the opposite direction along the wall. The moment of victory was short lived, as only a few meters away, she heard Walker shout

"You little whores!" and fast water splashing sounds echoed from behind.

More than ever, Alyssa wanted to disappear. He was insane, not stupid, she knew the same trick wasn't going to work again if he caught her, and judging by how rapidly he was catching up, she had no chance of getting away, she had to find a way to hide, and fast.

* * *

Too long, he had been fruitlessly searching the sewers for far too long, it wasn't unlikely that by now the human had already found the exit and ran away. Such a failure would cost him dearly, not to mention that even if his target hadn't already escaped, it could have been found and killed by one of the mad men roaming around. Either scenario only enraged him and further drained what little patience he had as he flew through the tunnels with speed, tearing down obstacles and knocking things away with the force of the nanites. He couldn't afford to take his time standing still and scanning around for traces of perfume, perfume whose trail went cold again a while ago anyway, so he had to search through every passage as he went.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream echoed from behind, it didn't sound too distant. Wasting no time, he came to a halt then took off in the opposite direction, leaving a longer trail of nanites due to the high speed. The path from which the scream came quickly revealed itself to be blocked, the tunnel was collapsed, large pieces of rock and earth covered the path almost entirely, with the exception of a narrow empty space near the ceiling of the passage.

It only slowed him down for a second as he dissipated into a cloud, slipped through the gap then rushed towards a brightly lit narrower passage, without taking the time and focus to reshape his body. But when he flew past the headless corpse, it became clear that even that second could make all the difference, it was a big red flag, it meant that Walker was lurking nearby. Clearly that one had been unlucky, most of the patients with their enhanced strength and agility had at least some chance of avoiding the giant man and getting away with their lives, but a normal human, an outsider who had no idea of what was happening in the asylum, would be as good as dead if Walker set his sights on them.

The sounds of struggling and water splashing became louder as he flew through the narrow passage then exited into a large open and flooded cavern. Another scream directed him towards the location of the conflict, and he caught sight of Walker from a distance, chasing a terror-stricken young woman through the water, only seconds away from catching up to her.

The eerie sounds echoing along with his growl must have reached Walker's ears, as he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and began looking in his direction, in the pitch darkness. Even if the room had been illuminated, the humans would still barely be able to see anything, since he had remained in the faint smoke-like form. Even so, the man figured out what was happening by now, judging by his words and the fact that he started running in the opposite direction from the other human.

It wasn't unlikely that his target would get the chance to slip away while he was busy with Walker, but it wasn't much he could do about that, he figured the best thing for the time being was to dispatch the immediate and very persistent threat, then deal with the rest afterwards.

* * *

Alyssa's desperate attempt to run for her life was interrupted when she heard it, a bizarre noise she couldn't explain, it was almost like a layered mix between a hiss and a growl, but it sent chills down her spine when she had to admit to herself that the way it echoed and resonated around the room, feeling like it was seeping into her bones, made it sound like it was not of this world. Walker had frozen in his tracks as well, his words only deepened her sense of dread

"That sound. Walrider. No. No!" Shockingly, the terrifying giant sounded terrified himself. Her eyes shot wide in realization, Walker knew of the Walrider too, but she still prayed it had nothing to do with what was currently happening, a part of her wanting to believe the man was having some sort of hallucination and that what she heard was air escaping a pressurized pipe or something, anything.

When she glanced at Walker, who was staring in the pitch darkness without moving a muscle, she jumped as in the next second he started running in the opposite direction, away from her. Not taking any chances, she did the same and continued her struggled running pace through the high water level, too terrified to try and figure out what could be capable of frightening the giant to such an extent.

Only a few seconds later, she was startled by the loud scream of the man, several meters behind and going, sounding like he was somehow traveling away at speed. When she zoomed in through her camcorder, which she thanked god had survived the very short dip into the water, all she managed to catch was a huge splash, then the man's voice abruptly stilled. For a few moments, the only sound audible was her own shaken breathing.

She filmed the distant waves rippling from where she kept trying to convince herself that Walker had somehow fallen and continued backing away, dragging one hand along the wall for support and guidance. The silence hadn't lasted, she jumped then fully turned around and drastically increased her pace when another loud splash erupted along with the man's panicked screams, whatever was happening to him, it made Alyssa's blood run cold, she didn't want to imagine what could be tormenting a man such as Walker. It was clear as day that whatever it was, if it was doing this to him, she would stand an ice cube's chance in hell of survival if it came after her.

The screams and sounds of struggle faded out as she kept running, then they eventually stopped completely, but she was too afraid to even look back at that point, with the possibility that whatever attacked Walker had killed him and it was going to come after her next. She listened closely, but the only sounds she could distinguish were her own legs moving through the water and her occasional whimper.

As she walked along the wall, Alyssa could barely believe her eyes when she was soon met with an exit out of the giant cavern. To her left sat a rather narrow opening into a tunnel, which was a start, but more importantly, she was hoping to find a way up. When she climbed the waist height ledge and walked ahead, she soon discovered that the tunnel lead into more and more, it was almost like a maze, branching into different turns at various points. Unsure which way to go, she just kept sticking with the paths on the right, then eventually came across a small door at the end, illuminated by a weak light bulb above it.

For once, her heart began feeling lighter when she opened it and noticed the ladder in the center of the small room. It wasn't nearly as long as the one Walker had broken though, and Alyssa could see light coming from above, so it wasn't a possible exit, but at least it was a way out of the sewer and whatever was lurking in it. Closing the door behind her, she took a moment to examine herself. Still wet from head to toe since she was dragged underwater by Walker, bandages soaked with that same murky sewer water, and her bun a complete mess.

She secured the camcorder to her belt, then raised her hand to fix her bun back in place only to remove the broken plastic hair clamp. She stared at it for a moment, then dropped it on floor.

 _Walker must've broken it when he tried to rip my head off.. Considering the situation, I'm not gonna complain about a broken hair clamp after I barely managed to escape with my head still attached to my neck._

Now that her life wasn't in immediate danger anymore, her body began to recognize the cold again, she grabbed her jacket closed then placed her arm around her chest, and her breath briefly froze in her lungs. Immediately, she opened up her jacket and her fears were confirmed. The deep pocket was empty, all the documents she had gathered were gone, they had slipped out and into the water when she was dragged under.

She bit her lip not to curse out loud, still not convinced that she would not attract unwanted attention.

 _Well, the documents were valuable, but not vital.. The footage on this camcorder, on the other hand.. if I lose it, this was all for nothing, assuming I get out of here alive…_ A long sigh left her, heavy and shaky with both fear and cold.

Before heading up the ladder, she leaned over and gently wrung and squeezed her hair to get as much of the filthy water out of it as she could, then flipped her head back, allowing her hair to land down the middle of her back. How she longed for a shower, even more so for a hot bubble bath, soaking into a clean tub seemed like a piece of heaven at the time.

Keeping her fantasies at bay, she began walking towards the ladder, but the thoughts that had been lurking in the back of her mind for a while she was unable to hold at bay any longer.

 _Both Father Martin and Walker spoke of the Walrider, they are insane people, but…_ She threw a glance over her shoulder and swallowed. _They make it sound like… like it's an actual physical presence? Just what the hell happened back there? It was so dark._

Not too deep down, she had a strong feeling that she knew what had happened, but she absolutely refused to accept it as a real possibility. Alyssa's field of interests didn't stop at conspiracy theories, it also encompassed the paranormal, a subject which terrified her to the bone. It was almost paradoxical, she found the topic profoundly fascinating, but even the remote chance that she could be in a haunted location, that there was any sort of spirit in her vicinity, struck utter dread into her heart. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she reached for the ladder and pushed the thoughts away.

As she began climbing up, she cringed at the creaking of the thin metal bars, the ladder didn't seem very sturdy, so she held on firmly and stepped up more gently in an attempt to lessen the effect of her weight on it.


	8. Chapter 8

When she reached the top, she only peeked her head out the hole and examined the new area. A medium sized room, mostly concrete, mostly bare, with only some wooden planks laid by the left wall, an empty rusty shelf, a large table on its side in the corner and a cracked open door.

With some relief that she was alone, Alyssa climbed out of the hole and approached the door. Through the crack, she could only see a similar, dimly lit, concrete hallway that grew dark in the distance. Preparing her camcorder to assist her navigate the dark as usual, she pulled the door open then abruptly stopped when it squeaked loudly.

 _For god's sake! Whoever was responsible for maintaining this place need to get their asses fired!_ She half-regretted her irritation when she quickly realized that whatever staff was supposed to take care of the asylum were most probably already dead.

This time, Alyssa pulled the door open in one fast motion, which minimized the noise. Just as she took the first step outside, a nearby whimper made her pause and her heart slightly thump faster. It came from behind, so she quickly turned only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Despite being well aware that the best thing for her would be to get away, something compelled her to speak.

"Hello?.." it came out only as a whisper. A few seconds later with no response, Alyssa assumed it must have been her imagination, but then another whimper was heard, from the same direction. It almost sounded like someone was scared or sad, trying to keep quiet, and wasn't doing a good job at it.

Curiosity and a feeling of reckless empathy got the best of her, she approached the table from where the sounds came from, and when she stepped to the side and looked behind it, both her and the other jumped in surprise. The boy cowering in the corner, his knees to his chest, looked like this was the last place on Earth he wanted to be in. Clad in only a dirty white straitjacket with very short hair that looked recently shaved and wide wet eyes staring at Alyssa while tears were streaming down his cheeks, he seemed scared out of his mind. What affected the young woman even more was how the boy looked barely a couple years older than her own brother.

Her expression saddened, she shook her head lightly and took a slow step forward, only for the boy to recoil and whimper again.

"It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help.." Alyssa spoke softly and the boy seemed to relax just slightly. She waited patiently and hoped he would talk to her, so that perhaps she could tell to a certain extent how mentally present he was. If he seemed unstable or dangerous, as much as it saddened her to see him so terrified and alone, she would have to go and leave his rescue to the police once she got the word out.

"Y.. can't help. The others, they're everywhere, they're killing people. T-they caught me and tried.." his lip began trembling and he sobbed then hid his face between his knees. Alyssa took another step forward and tried to console him.

"Don't worry, I got on camera what happened here, after I get out I'm taking the footage to the police and they'll come and get everyone to a real hospital, alright? What's your name?" She asked as she crouched a few feet away from the boy and raised her recording camcorder before continuing "I'll make sure to hide your identity, but can you please tell me everything you know about what happened in this asylum? You can help me bring the police here to get everyone to safety, and also get those bastards responsible for this in prison and stop them from doing this ever again."

Hearing that, the boy raised his head and glanced towards Alyssa, a glimmer of hope in his eyes

"You really think you can get out and get help?"

She forced a smile and nodded her head with determination. As much as she disliked being insincere, especially to people who were anything but deserving, her own hopes of leaving the asylum in one piece had recently reached new lows, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that. Although, now she couldn't ignore it, she was beginning to feel a new boost of motivation since seeing the helpless terrified boy in desperate need of safety. She knew there were many victims like him since well before she even came to the asylum, but meeting one of them reinforced her desire to expose Murkoff and put an end to the torment they were causing to so many people.

The boy sniffled and sighed before he spoke in a slightly shaky voice

"I-I'm Eric. I've only been here for a few months so I don't know much.. I heard the doctors talk about the "working model".. they were trying to build it, don't know what it is, but they needed to test on us to make it. But they couldn't, I saw.. I saw what they did to the others but still failed. Then they took me underground and.." the boy trailed off, staring into space.

Alyssa watched him carefully with a confused frown, his words only raised more questions than they answered

"Underground? What did you see down there, Eric?" she tried not to sound urgent or pushy, even though whatever was happening underground sparked a lot of her interest.

Eric's jaw trembled then he turned back to her, wide-eyed

"The man in the glass bubble was there. They tried to put me in one too, they said I was 'making progress' and 'had potential', but.. I got really scared and fought as hard as I could. I couldn't help it, I-I felt something really bad, like I was in danger.."

Alyssa sighed quietly, this was a start, but it was still puzzling, she wondered how much his words were influenced by any mental illness. Before she gave up, however, she decided to ask

"Were you ever diagnosed with schizophrenia, Eric? Why did you feel like you were in danger underground?"

Without missing a beat, the boy spoke louder "No! I'm not crazy, I swear! I know that's what crazy people say, but they brought me here because of severe anxiety and depression! I never hurt anyone, I got no place in here!"

Raising her hand in an attempt to calm the boy, Alyssa replied gently

"Okay, okay, I believe you Eric, you're not crazy. They brought you here with no criminal record? Can't say I'm too surprised, the asylum is under Murkoff's administration, and they don't exactly care about following rules.. But what scared you underground, what else did you see there?"

"Just.. the dark. It gave me a really.. threatening feeling. I saw it once, in the corner of my eye, moving by itself.. I think the movies were making it worse." Eric's frustration was quickly replaced with fright and paranoia.

Alyssa swallowed and her gaze dropped to the floor, now she was hoping the boy really was delusional. It all just sounded and felt wrong, everything since she stepped foot onto the asylum grounds, Father Martin's bizarre cult, the similar stories of both Dr. Meyer and Steele, the dark moving cloud she saw with her own eyes in the sewer, and most recently, Eric's story, she really wished she could chalk it up to crazy-talk and dismiss it, but something inside her knew there was some truth to it all, which deeply unsettled her.

"Alright, Eric.. Listen, I'm going to go now, I'll find a way out and bring help, alright? The police will come and get everyone to safety." She spoke gently to the boy, who watched her wide-eyed for a few seconds then nodded. "Before I go though, do you want me to help you with that thing? So you can defend yourself better, just in case." She signaled towards his straitjacket and slowly took the knife out of her boot.

The boy seemed hesitant and looked around suspiciously before he answered "J.. just my arms." Alyssa nodded and carefully cut the belts that held Eric's arms wrapped around his torso, she then stood up and took a few steps back, a bit relieved that he remained calm and in place.

"You should stay out of sight, I'll try to bring help fast." She placed the knife back in her boot and began walking towards the door, when Eric suddenly spoke louder

"Father Martin thinks it's a God.. I think it's a monster…"

Alyssa's breath froze in her lungs, she turned back towards the boy, her expression stricken with dread, and spoke slowly

"Yes.. Father Martin says so.. You saw it, didn't you?"

The boy's head dropped back on his knees and his voice sounded painful "I saw.. it's alive. Why do people do this? W-we mess with things we don't understand, we try to control the unknown, then it destroys us…"

Alyssa was beginning to feel slightly dizzy, part of her wanted to just leave, get out, let the police solve everything and get as far away as she could from the asylum and never look back. To hell with whatever lurked between those walls, it was getting so unsettling she was reaching a point where she just didn't want to know any more about it.

"I… have to go Eric. I'll be fast." She spoke more absentmindedly and barely heard the boy mutter a "Be careful." before she left the room and began walking down the hallway, she knew she had to keep her guard and vigilance up, but she was too distraught.

 _Stop it! They're crazy people, for god's sake, they're delusional! … But Dr. Meyer isn't … Why did people blow up into pieces all of a sudden? … Shit, shit, shit, to hell with all of this, I'm getting out of here!_

Before she realized it, Alyssa was jogging down the hallway, through a couple of rooms then through another hallway that ended with a dark stairwell. She stopped in front of it to catch her breath and looked behind her, mentally slapping herself for panicking and running like that. Fortunately, she hadn't attracted any unwanted attention, so she turned back to the stairs and raised her camcorder to use its nightvision.

When she began stepping up, she was relieved that the wood wasn't making any noise, it seemed very much sturdy.

 _At least I'm not gonna fall through this one.._ She glanced down to her thigh, the bandages and her clothes were beginning to dry up, and she still only felt small pangs of pain now and then, the effect of the painkillers Dr. Meyer gave her hadn't worn off yet. The thought of the doctor, and now the boy Eric too, made her increase her pace, it was up to her to bring help before it was too late, and she hoped not only that the woman would still be alive, but also that she'd still want to live after her ordeal was over.

Then her knees weakened when, without warning, the memories flashed through her mind in a split second: _"splattered on the floor, walls" "something below" "moving by itself" "our Lord will protect you" "steaming guts everywhere"_. She shut her eyes tightly in an effort to prevent the feelings from overwhelming her and forced herself to keep going, dragging herself up by the hand rail, then shook her head hard in a desperate attempt to block the thoughts that brought on the paralyzing fear.

At the moment, she was so tempted to put her phone back together and look at some pictures of her family, she needed motivation to keep going more than ever, but she knew she couldn't risk it, so she emptied her mind and kept climbing.

Alyssa's frustration grew when she noticed the exits were all blocked until the second floor, leaving her no choice but to go to the second floor, then find another way down to the ground floor, or at least the first floor where she came in through via the window in the administration block. She paused at the top of the stairs and read the small sign "Male Ward" next to the exit. Taking a step outside the stair well, she found herself in darkness again, so she took a right towards where she could see some light.

The lit room ahead proved to be somewhat intimidating, a couple bloody and dirty hospital beds were laid in the corners, the double doors to the right were nailed shut, and the black and white tiled floor was stained with a long trail of blood coming from the dark hallway ahead. But her fear was replaced with relief and a sliver of joy when she noticed where the trail actually lead, towards an open and brightly lit elevator near the left side of the room. As she rushed towards it, she also noticed the dark stairwell in the corner, but dismissed it when she saw the chain and lock on the metal gate around it.

Excited, she walked inside the elevator and pressed the down arrow shaped button. Once, and then twice, and then thrice. Nothing, the elevator hadn't even made a single sound.

 _No, no no no, please, come on, you have to!_ She frantically kept pressing the down button to no avail, then tried all the others, nothing moved in the slightest.

"Shit!" She cursed louder than she would have liked, but then slammed her palm on the buttons even louder. After a long sigh full of frustration and concern, she took a closer look and noticed the hole at the bottom of the control panel on the elevator wall. Much to Alyssa's chagrin, it was a key hole, she realized the elevator was locked in place.

 _You have got to be kidding me.. Where am I supposed to find the key now?_

Defeated, she slowly walked out of the cabin, and left with no other option, she approached the dark hallway to the left. As she walked down it, the camcorder revealed a bed near the right wall where the hallway split to the left, and a man lying motionless on it. Alyssa began walking slower and quieter, her heart starting to thump faster in anticipation.

As she approached, she could see on the man's bare chest several fresh, still bleeding incisions, and the way his wrists and ankles were tied to the corners of the bed with belts. Keeping a distance of a few feet, she made sure to get the man and the condition he was kept in on film, then took a step back and nearly dropped her camcorder when the wooden floor creaked and the man erupted. He suddenly began shouting at the top of his lungs, squirming frantically, and rattling the bed under him.

Alyssa nearly jumped out of her skin and wanted to continue down the hallway, until she noticed the blocked doors ahead, then she began heading to the split in the corridor, but stopped when she heard a voice coming from that same direction, between the man's screams

"Coming! Hold on now."

Feeling trapped, her panicked mind failed to tell her to simply run back the way she came from, so she quickly rushed under the man's bed and crawled as close to the wall as possible. The patient above began to quiet down somewhat, then her camcorder caught sight of a door opening down the corridor she was facing.

When Alyssa took a closer look through the camcorder, she could hardly believe the man that stepped out and began walking towards her was alive, his skin was so thin or scarred that she couldn't actually tell for sure if he had any skin, the parts of his body that weren't covered by the dirty and bloody apron looked like they were skinless, it was the closest to a real-life zombie she had ever seen. On his face he wore a half-torn surgical mask and a pair of strange eyeglasses Alyssa couldn't figure out from the distance and low artificial green light, along with an IV tube strapped around his left arm. What further intimidated her was the giant pair of rusty shears he held and snapped open and shut. When he walked next to the bed and spoke to the patient in a casual tone, Alyssa was shocked to recognize his voice

"What is it now? I'm a busy man, go on."

"You motherfucker! Untie me, you hear me?! I'm gonna fucking rip you a new one you sick fucking piece'a dog shit!" The patient shouted angrily while he kept squirming violently, but the other man mumbled something Alyssa couldn't hear over the screaming then began walking away.

"Don't you fucking ignore me! Think you're tough shit with me tied down here? Let me go you fucking cocksuckers! Trager!" The patient confirmed what she suspected, both the voice and the name couldn't have been a coincidence, it really was Richard Trager, the Murkoff executive that went under the radar not long ago.

 _Jesus Christ, did he piss off Murkoff so much that they stripped him of his position in the corporation and strapped him to a hospital bed until they turned him into.. this?_

Alyssa didn't have time to ponder when Trager suddenly turned back around and snapped his shears open before speaking in that same casual tone

"Alright… Alright, we got a problem, we can fix it." Within just a few seconds, another snap was heard and the patient's words were quickly replaced by agonizing screaming as the bed rattled even harder. The girl underneath it did her best to keep quiet, but she almost screamed too when a piece of bloody flesh landed in front of her, which she identified as the bound man's tongue.

"There, all better now, eh, buddy?" She could barely hear Trager over the patient's wails, but turned her camcorder back on him as he began walking away, which wasn't a pleasant sight, since the apron he wore only covered the lower front part of his body, his backside was completely uncovered. Before she looked away, however, she noticed the ring of keys attached to the strap of his apron near his hip.

Now she wasn't even sure how to feel about it, on one hand, it seemed very likely to her that one of those keys must've been for unlocking the elevator, but on the other, it was attached to the zombified Richard Trager, the presumably ex Murkoff executive who just cut a man's tongue off like it was clipping a nail. Still, she didn't let him out of sight until he walked away down the hall and disappeared into another room.

A couple minutes of hesitation and paranoid nightvision searching from a distance later, the screams of the patient above diminished and allowed Alyssa to think clearer. She still didn't want to crawl out, knowing Trager was lurking around, though she placed her hand over her taser gun.

 _He walked back and forth pretty slowly, but it wasn't an emergency, I can't say he can't run fast or anything.. So if I miss, I'm in deep trouble.. But he has the keys dammit, all I need to do is zap him, he goes down, I take them while he's stunned then run to the elevator, get to the lobby to wipe the security camera footage then get the hell out of here through the first floor administration block I came in. Yes, good, getting closer now.._

With no sounds nearby, Alyssa quietly crawled out from under the bed and stood up, she pulled the taser gun out of its holster and checked it, making sure it was ready for action. She jumped slightly and turned around when the man on the bed grunted then tried to point towards his wrists and ankles with his eyes and by wiggling his limbs. She could tell he wanted her to untie him, but she could also think of a few reasons not to do it, first and foremost, her own safety, she had no reason to think he wouldn't attack her, then it was Trager, it was fairly obvious that he wanted some revenge on the man seemingly playing doctor, but she knew he would probably try to kill him, and Trager belonged in prison along with all the other Murkoff executives, and it was also the fact that Trager could kill him instead with his shears. For the time being, Alyssa only wanted the keys, she decided she would cut the man loose after she had them, but only his hands, so by the time he freed his ankles, she would be a safe distance away.

She raised her index finger to her lips in a shushing motion before whispering

"Just give me a chance first, please, I'll be back." The man frowned and rattled the bed lightly, but she quietly stepped away and headed down the hallway. Things were somewhat more difficult since she preferred to hold the taser gun up and close to her chest for quicker aiming and firing, then her other hand was holding the camcorder.

Following the trail where she saw Trager leave, she found herself in a huge room with many hospital beds at odd angles occupied by two or three motionless men, but what made her struggle to keep the contents of her stomach down was the bloody torso, complete with guts flowing out of it, laid on a table near the center of the room. Alyssa wanted to cover her mouth to block the rotten stench, but this time both her hands were occupied, so she endured it and rushed past it near the end of the room. Before she walked through the doorway near the corner, she made sure to zoom back in and record the details from a distance, especially the gore on the table.

Afterwards, she passed through a very short connective hallway and found herself in a similar room, except it was much more populated. All the people on the beds seemed tied down or sedated, barely moving, and all were in horrible condition, some severely underweight, some heavily scarred from head to toe until their faces didn't resemble human beings anymore, some with limbs stuck in bizarre painful contraptions that pierced their flesh and bled them. One man she saw she could hardly believe he was alive, skin severely scarred and inflamed all over, genitals completely removed, extremities mutated into crooked stumps, veins overinflated and bulging through what was left of the very thin and sometimes missing skin. Alyssa closed her eyes tightly and briefly to clear the forming tears, she almost hoped the man's condition was caused by some sort of horrible illness, because knowing a human being purposefully did that to another, it was just too much to accept, it would crush her faith in humanity.

With a shaky hand, she zoomed around the room with the camcorder and recorded everything she could, it was more difficult when she filmed the horribly disfigured man, but his case was especially severe so she made sure to get it clear on camera.

 _How much is Trager responsible for all these people?.._

As she began walking between the beds towards the double doors at the front of the room, she was relieved that no one caused any commotion, she figured even if they could tell in the dark that she was an intruder, they were either heavily sedated or had already struggled fruitlessly too much and lost hope.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of running water from the left side of the room, her heart began racing, it couldn't have been one of the patients, they all seemed to be tied down in that area. Switching the objects around in her hands, she put the camcorder in her left hand and held the taser gun at the right arm's length away as she approached the door from where the sound came from.

When she looked through its glass window, she saw a short narrow corridor with another door on the right, this one was cracked open, and a dim light came from beyond. A few seconds later, her suspicions were confirmed when she heard Trager speak, or more like mumble to himself

"All these bureaucrats with their corporate luncheons and golden parachutes. Where are the survivors? Where are the sharks? I've been chumming the water long enough."

Alyssa took a deep breath then slowly opened the first door and prayed that neither it, nor the wooden floor would creak. Her prayers were answered, as she had a quiet approach, but now she was worried about where Trager was facing inside. Since there was some light in the room, she placed her camcorder back on her belt and held the taser gun with both hands for better grip and aim.

With her heart thumping hard and senses in overdrive, she pointed the gun towards the crack in the door then slowly, very slowly, began pushing it open. The lack of any squeaking was good news, but she couldn't afford to relax, as she kept opening the door, the room revealed itself to be a dirty bathroom.

The wall on the right was virtually bare, then the sinks on the wall straight ahead began coming into view. One filthy half broken sink, followed by another, Alyssa felt a sense of relief when she noticed the mirror above them was nearly completely broken, but then the right side of Trager's body slightly bent over the third sink was revealed as she kept pushing the door. She took in a sharp breath and prepared herself to fire, just a few more inches and she would have a clear shot. Suddenly, her luck had ran out, as the door let out a loud sharp squeak.

 _Shit._

"Hey!" Trager shouted and stepped aside, partially out of sight.

With no time to spare or make rational decisions, Alyssa decided to do her best at aiming and fire anyway. The next moment, she regretted it, as both barbs left the gun and stuck themselves directly into the wall, inches from Trager's body.

 _Shit!_

Immediately, she discarded the cartridge and ran away, not without the footsteps of the man quickly following from behind and shouting

"Hold up there, buddy! I'll be right with you."

She dashed past the double doors and out of the large dark room into a long lit hallway with more hospital beds, mattresses and wheelchairs parked on the side. As she took off to the left, she was terrified to hear Trager not only shouting again, but also catching up to her

"Wait a minute now, aren't you Martin's witness or something? He told me about you, but boy does the man have a few loose screws, no offense."

Between heavy breaths, Alyssa decided to try to reason with him, she told herself it was unlikely that Trager went insane so quickly, he had to still have a rational mind, at least partially

"I don't want anything to do with Martin or anyone here, I'm just trying to get out, please leave me alone!" She figured it would be a mistake to tell him her real plan, namely that she recorded the horrors he and Murkoff had done in the asylum and she was going to get them all thrown in prison for the rest of their lives after she got the footage to the police.

As soon as she took a right turn, a sudden hot spike of pain emerged from the wound in her thigh, and sent her stumbling. It allowed Trager to catch up that much more, mere feet away, making Alyssa bring her hair forward over her shoulder as it wasn't impossible for him to reach ahead and grab a hold of it if he got just a little closer.

 _I can't keep this up, I have to recharge the taser and stop him!_

It was much easier thought than done, as the man was closing in, but she forced herself to raise the gun and reach into her pocket for another charge while still maintaining her speed. She pulled the small cartridge out of her jacket and attempted to set it in place on the gun, but in the panic and movement, it slipped out of her hands and onto the floor. She didn't have time to complain, as the next thing she felt was Trager's grip on her forearm, it slowed her down nearly to a halt and her fear skyrocketed.

"No!" She shouted and, more out of instinct, swiftly turned around and hit the man in the face as hard as she could. His grip loosened as he was momentarily stunned, but he still held onto the sleeve of her jacket. Thinking on her feet, Alyssa took the taser into her other hand then swiftly slipped out of her jacket and sprinted away. The mad wannabe doctor didn't waste any time, he was quickly back on her trail, but this time further away, shouting furiously from behind

"Fuck! Really? Guess I'll just have to kill you then. Don't tell Martin!"

Taking advantage of the greater distance between them, Alyssa wanted to recharge the taser gun, until the realization hit her: all the charges were inside the pocket of her jacket, jacket which she had just left behind to save her life. She felt the energy leave her legs as the dreadful sense of defenselessness in front of life-threatening danger took over her and she forced herself to keep up the pace while her mind began racing, although not as quick as her heart.

 _Shit, shit, what do I do?! I need to find a way back there and find my jacket, there's no getting those keys with Trager in this condition._

She had no time to even attempt to plan a route, when she suddenly felt a sharp piercing wave of pain, this time coming from her left upper arm, followed by a metallic clang on the floor. When she took a closer look and saw the blood dripping down her arm, Alyssa could barely believe it, but it was the only explanation.

 _That bastard really just threw those shears and managed to hit me?!_ Another bleeding wound was the last thing she needed, and to make matters worse, she had nothing to bandage it with, unless she either found her jacket or tore up her already small and thin sports tank top. She was at least thankful that it wasn't bleeding and hurting that badly, and most importantly, it wasn't slowing her down, she hated to think how she'd fare if those shears had stuck themselves into her good leg.

All of a sudden, she had the surprising and confusing realization: she was alone, Trager had stopped chasing her and was nowhere to be seen. She slowed and stopped in the middle of the corridor, puzzled but still very much worried. Cautiously approaching the nearest door, she opened it and found herself alone in a dimly lit medium sized room, seemingly what used to be a medical office, populated by a messy desk and chair, file cabinets, a broken down small sofa and a bookshelf.

On the other side of the room was another closed door, with no light coming through its glass window. It didn't make her feel safe by any measure, but she took the opportunity to catch her breath and hopefully devise a plan of action. For a moment, she considered just turning off the light and waiting behind the door for Trager to come looking for her then stab him from behind with something, but quickly dismissed the idea, not only did she doubt she could stab and risk outright killing someone, even if he was a threat, but her nerves were a wreck, she couldn't bring herself to lay in waiting for danger to find her.

Checking her newly useless taser gun only made her frustrated and intensified the unbearable feeling of helplessness in the face of danger that kept returning ever since she came to the asylum.

 _Tsk… what the hell did you expect? It's not like I'm a match for any of these people.. but still.._

She glanced back at the deep wound on her thigh, then the new one on her arm, the scratches and bruises she was often too scared for her life to even notice, and thought her situation over, all the pain, the physical and especially mental torment she's been through for the past hours that felt like days. Then she thought of what she had learned back home, all the rumors and allegations against Murkoff, the ignored and suppressed evidence of human rights violations, the bought judges, the countless secret inhumane experiments, the helpless terrified boy she met, everything caused and perpetuated by Murkoff.

 _No, no. I don't regret it. I can't._

As much as Alyssa wanted to be brave, she couldn't lie to herself, she had to admit there was something that pushed her to the brink of regret, but she convinced herself to not even think about it, as she knew it was too much to handle.

 _They're crazy people, you can't believe what they say, they were delusional._ She forced herself to walk to the door and busy herself again before she had to admit that she didn't fully believe her own thoughts.

Switching off the light in the office allowed her to see better in the next room, which turned out to be another one of the large rooms with multiple hospital beds. She stepped out quietly and glanced to the right where one of the double doors was open, allowing some light in.

Peeking outside in both directions revealed the hallway devoid of life, she took a right towards the darkened end of the corridor and walked slowly close to the wall, placing her useless taser gun back in its holster and readying her camcorder for the dark.

As she approached the corner, she was met with a closed gate to the left and darkness to the right. She had no time to think when Trager simply walked from behind the corner saying "Buddy!" and lunged for her. She screamed and turned to run but it was already too late, he grabbed her shirt, pushed her to the ground and held her down by both arms, which intensified the pain in the arm he'd injured earlier.

"Pay attention now!" Alyssa was snapped out of her squirming when he slapped her across the face hard and she yelped in pain, but dragging her to the floor caused Trager to drop his shears just a few feet away from where they were struggling. Her heart skipped a frantic beat when she heard him speak again while he held her down by the shoulder with one hand and tried to reach for his shears with the other "Let's teach you the seven habits of highly eviscerated people…"

There was no doubt about it as far as she could tell, he was going to kill her right there, right then, if she didn't do something about it. As frightening as she found it, she wished the incident with Walker in the sewer would repeat, she wished Trager would be mysteriously tossed off of her and flung away by whatever terrifying force allowed her to slip away from a certain and gruesome death at the hands of the giant man.

But no such thing was happening, she was once again fighting for her life against a monstrous looking homicidal mad man. What made it worse was that the current one appeared to be sadistic, judging by what she'd seen him do and all the people tied down to beds and mutilated, she couldn't be sure that he would kill her quickly and not just injure her enough to make escape impossible and then experiment on her the same way he did with the others. It was a nightmare scenario she couldn't accept.

She swiftly turned to her side as quickly as she could while she watched Trager's fingers wrap around the handle of his shears, then bent her back and brought her leg up close enough to reach with her hand. Her own fingers found the knife in the boot and grasped it tightly then brought it partially behind her back, unable to do anything without one last plea

"Please, I don't want to do this, please let me go!"

Trager's words appeared to ignore her own as he began raising the shears above her abdomen

"Let me…"

"Don't!" Alyssa's hand felt like it moved by itself, the serrated blade going straight towards his neck, easily piercing and tearing through the soft tissue a couple inches deep. For a few moments, time felt frozen, until Trager's mouth opened and several big drops of blood landed on her face.

With a shaky hand, she swiftly pulled the knife out, and immediately regretted it, as a large amount of blood spurted out of the wound and drenched her face and neck in it before Trager dropped the shears and covered the injury tightly with both hands.

When he leaned over towards the wall, Alyssa wiped the blood out of her eyes while trying to recover from the shock, then took the opportunity to grab the key ring from him and scramble to her feet after placing the knife back in her boot. As she began running away, she heard him speak again, this time with a somewhat raspy and gurgling voice

"Sell you…"

She had no intention of asking what he was talking about, but when she threw a glance over her shoulder, she was stunned to see the man getting up on his feet and beginning to rush towards her, holding the shears with one hand and pressing the other against his bleeding wound.

 _You've got to be shitting me, just stay down! Christ, I've got to find that elevator!_

After a few more turns in search for the lift, incredibly, the man was still behind her, not close or closing in, but he showed no sign of stopping or even slowing down. As much as she hated the possibility, she had to admit it wasn't too unlikely that none of the keys on the key ring were for the elevator, not to mention the time it would take to try each one of them until she found the right one, if she did at all.

Once she reached a familiar hallway, she was relieved to see the man whose tongue Trager had cut off earlier, squirming on the bed at the far end of the corridor. She didn't want to stop running and give her pursuer time to catch up, but she had no choice, she paused her running for a second, just to pull the knife out of her boot again, then sprinted towards the patient ahead. Another glance back confirmed Trager was still on her trail, significantly closer.

When she reached the man on the bed, she began cutting his restraints as quickly as she could with her panicked and trembling hands while she spoke in an equally shaky voice

"I-I couldn't stop him, I'm sorry, please help the others and don't do anything stupid!" The moment he was free, he shot straight up and took off past her and down the hall towards Trager at startling speed.

As he ran, he let out a shout that Alyssa assumed was supposed to be the sadistic man's name, but he couldn't quite pronounce it without a tongue. She wasted no time and took a right towards the first room she saw when she reached this level, finding herself just several meters away from the elevator.

After she dashed inside it and began frantically fiddling with the keys, she dropped them entirely when she heard Trager shout very loudly, and from way too close a distance

"The dreeaaaam!"

She quickly picked them back up and made an effort to keep her tears in check as she began trying to fit a key in the elevator panel. Her panic increased when the sounds of struggle and fighting began, just down the corridor to her left, making her task even more difficult as her fingers quivered in fright and tears blurred her vision.

 _Please work, come on, please, just one of you!_ One after the other, every key failed her, and her heart felt like it was about to give up more and more with each attempt.

What felt like the hundredth key finally both fit into the panel and turned, she took in a sharp breath, almost in disbelief, then immediately pressed the down button a few times, and prayed while waiting. Suddenly, the elevator seemed to wake up from its slumber, making heavy metallic noises that to her ears sounded like sweet salvation. The gate ahead slid over noisily and closed her in while the cabin slightly shook as it prepared itself to descend. Normally, being closed in a narrow space would make her anything but comfortable, but inside the elevator cabin, she felt an amazing sense of safety and relief that was almost alien to her after all the things that happened.


	9. Chapter 9

The joy and relief had lasted only a few moments however, as the elevator began moving up instead of down, nearly bringing Alyssa to her knees both from the inertia and the emotional distress

"Wha… No! Stop!" She slammed her hand on the down button on the control panel and pressed it frantically over and over while looking out the gate, it was to no avail, the elevator kept ascending.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she leaned on the right wall, wide eyed and staring outside as the cabin refused to stop; it hadn't traveled that long, only two floors higher, but in her mind, every inch felt like a foot and every second felt like a minute until it finally stopped. The realization that she was only brought deeper into the asylum and further away from an exit was very hard to swallow. At that point, she was beginning to question her mental stability, she didn't know how much more she could take, how much longer she could be stuck in that place fighting for her life against homicidal mad men until she went mad herself.

After the elevator gate slid open and she glanced outside the cabin, she felt like she had just been slapped in the face upon seeing the large framed picture of the Murkoff Corporation logo that was hung on the wall straight ahead. It was like adding insult to injury. On top of the feelings of desperation and hopelessness, she began feeling angry as well, seeing the picture on the wall seemed to twist the metaphorical knife in her literal wounds, and once again she found herself in an unknown area where predators could be lurking around any corner.

 _To hell with this._ She began buttoning the elevator control panel again, especially the down button, but she wasn't surprised when it hadn't budged, not even a sound, the cabin seemed locked in place again. With a deep exhale, she stepped forward, and as she approached the picture ahead, she could see some of her own reflection in the glass. She was a bit taken aback to see her face and neck stained with blood, and even though she was thankful it wasn't hers, it still unsettled her, the feeling of the knife in her hand sinking into another person's neck was disturbingly fresh in her mind. Granted, that person was trying to kill her and she had to act in self-defense, but it still felt wrong, for all she knew, Trager was likely dead, and it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't both stabbed him and unleashed the angry patient on him.

 _Dammit, get a grip, he was a sadistic psychopath!_ Taking a few steps back, another thought sprung to mind. _Doesn't mean I want to be responsible for his death… This place… I don't want to become like the people here, not even by a fraction…_

After a long sigh, Alyssa tried to get herself back together and took a closer look at her surroundings. Unsurprisingly to her, the stairwell next to the elevator was once again locked, so that was a no go. On the left wall she could see a path further left and a frosted glass door ahead, but the floor was stained with blood, so it was an unappealing option. To the right, a long corridor straight ahead and another path branching off to the left, with no blood in sight. On each side of the Murkoff logo picture were two metallic doors, which, after she slowly and cautiously opened one and stepped inside, found that they lead into a large kitchen.

It was surprisingly clean, equipped with all the typical kitchenware, a long metallic table above which many pots and pans were hanging, some large ovens and shelves, a couple of refrigerators, along with cabinets and cupboards. The other exit out of the room was a pair of double doors with a narrow vertical window on each, but there was only darkness behind them. On one cabinet, she even spotted a battery next to an old radio. When she wanted to check how many batteries of her own she had left, she paused for a moment, then remembered they were all in the jacket she discarded when she needed to save her life from Trager.

Her camcorder revealed about fifty percent left on its current battery, so she decided to snag that one too unless she wanted the device to die on her, not that she didn't have enough evidence, she had plenty, but if she came across dark areas again with no nightvision she would be in serious trouble. Walking around the long table with eyes fixed on the battery in the corner, she didn't pay attention to the hanging cookware above, and when her head bumped into one large stainless steel pot, she was startled and took a step away, but then nearly jumped out of her skin when the pot fell off its loose hook and loudly clanged against the metallic table, and then again on the floor. The sounds it made were so loud her ears began to ring slightly, she panicked a little, grabbed the battery then left the kitchen the same way she came in through.

She bit her lip and closed the door quietly, inwardly cursing herself for making such loud noises out of lack of attention, it was not the time nor place to let her guard down and move around carelessly. Back in the hub area in front of the elevator, she felt a bit overwhelmed, there were multiple ways to go, but she had to find a way down.

With no proper information to make a calculated decision apart from the blood on one corridor and the darkness beyond the doors in the kitchen, she decided to go down the lit path with no blood. As she took the first few steps down the hallway, she was at least somewhat thankful that the area seemed clean and relatively in order, it looked a lot like the administration block, the floor was carpeted and the walls and furniture weren't falling apart, it was a pleasant sight in contrast to the grimy and broken down area of the Male Ward she came from.

To the left she could see a split into another corridor, but it all looked rather similar, with wooden doors lined up on the left and right, it almost seemed like an apartment building. When she gathered the courage to open some of the doors, they revealed small bedrooms, with one or two beds in each, small bed stands with lamps, desks and chairs, but the windows were what attracted her attention. Water was dripping down the glass on the outside, indicating that it was still raining, but when she opened one, she was met with metal bars all across the window. It didn't surprise her, she only wanted to check, it wasn't like she could jump from that far up, and climbing down in the dark and stormy night seemed extremely risky to her.

 _I could try making one of those bed sheet ropes, then have it break on me and break all my bones on the concrete below.._

All the other rooms turned out to be very similar, Alyssa didn't know why she kept bothering to check, and began to feel increasingly paranoid that she might open one door and a patient will jump out and end her, what she hoped to find was some sort of fire escape or alternate exit, but had no such luck as of yet.

As she opened one of the dorm rooms, she caught sight of the large cross on the wall above the bed, and a note on the bed stand. After taking a glance around to make sure she was still alone, she approached the note and leaned down to read it.

 **_"I am an unworthy supplicant, who can serve our lord only by feeding our lord. Please take me, Walrider. Let my shepherd's Apostle see it and spread it with lies for a greater truth. Your time upon the world has come. My flesh longs for your beautiful wraith. My blood is filled with you and waiting to be set free. This is my prayer. Write your gospel in my flesh."_ **

_Good God, this sounds like something written by one of Father Martin's cult members, or perhaps Martin himself. A… wraith? Is the Walrider… No, no, these people are seriously disturbed…_

Alyssa left the room and kept walking towards the end of the corridor, a bit unsettled by the note. It was true that it was merely the scribblings of a delusional person, but the word "wraith" raised a few hairs on the back of her neck.

 _Inside blood.. what the.. ugh, quit it, it's crazy-people talk, you'll never figure it out because it never made any sense to begin with._

Dismissing her thoughts, she continued towards the end of the hallway only to be met with the last door nailed shut, the door she hoped the most would be an exit. Remembering the path from before, she turned back then took a right, but the last door there revealed a bathroom.

With a soft sigh, she cautiously stepped inside and was relieved to see it was empty and fairly large, with several stalls and three sinks on opposite ends along with a few lockers on the sides. At least she could clean the blood off herself, but not in one of the three sinks that was filled with reddish water.

Before she did anything, though, she decided to push one of the lockers to block the door, just to give herself a sense of safety, real safety or not. With the locker in place, she approached the mirror then frowned when she saw the dried blood stains on her face and neck. Fortunately, the water did flow when she turned it on, so she began cleaning herself off, then realized even her hair was dirty with blood and whatever filth was in that sewer water.

 _Really looking forward to that hot shower once I'm out of here.._

She cleaned the blood off her skin carefully to not get any of it, nor water, in her mouth or eyes, since she didn't know how dirty it was. When she looked down, she was displeased to see her pink tank top was speckled with some blood as well, which would look suspicious in public. She knew better than to try scrubbing it off with only cold water from a sink, she told herself she'll be lucky if she manages to get the blood out of her clothes with some proper detergent and a washing machine, and if that wasn't successful, she wanted to burn them, too paranoid to keep blood stained clothes intact after going through Mount Massive Asylum.

All of a sudden, her heart skipped a beat when the door handle twisted and the door was pushed, but remained blocked by the locker in front of it.

 _Oh god, no…_ Her eyes darted around the room as panic began rising when something started banging on the door hard. There was no way out, with the exception of a vent above one of the stalls, which Alyssa dashed towards then climbed on the toilet bowl, but when she reached up, the grate covering the hole proved to be too thick and well stuck in place for her fingers to pry open.

She considered just closing the door of the stall and hiding there, but it seemed way too obvious. With little to no options, she decided to head for one of the several lockers at the far end of the room. When she heard a louder bang along with the locker at the door rattling hard she almost yelped out loud, but she rushed inside the closest locker and shut the door as her heart began thumping rapidly.

Because her hiding spot was on the same wall as the door, she couldn't even see through the slits how much danger she was in, which unsettled her further. However, the mystery didn't last, as several long seconds later, a loud metallic crash made her cringe and the door swung open with a small squeak. The hope she had that whoever walked in was just going to look around, see the empty bathroom, then leave was crushed when she heard the sound of a locker door being opened, followed by another.

Alyssa covered her mouth with both hands to suppress her whimpers as her legs began to feel weak and quiver slightly, thinking that whoever was searching through those lockers would almost surely come look through the one she was hidden in as well. In the back of her mind, she hoped so much it wasn't going to be who she thought, but her fears were confirmed when the man suddenly spoke and she nearly choked

"You around here, pussycat? Been looking everywhere for you.." Steele began opening one locker, then another, the closer he came, the more Alyssa felt like she was about to pass out from fright.

She could hardly believe it was happening, one minute she was washing her face and the next minute she was once again hiding for her life. After he checked each stall, her mind raced as he opened the locker right next to her, and then she saw the triangular scar on his chest when he stepped in front of her.

 _God please, kill me now, right now!_

Her prayers weren't granted, the door to her locker was swung open and Steele seemed a bit startled himself when he saw her, leaning as far back away from him as she could, with shaky legs, teary eyes, no jacket, flimsy tank top, and loose messy hair.

Whatever surprised expression he had upon seeing her was quickly replaced with that same smirk he had before which sent his intentions across so well that it disgusted and terrified Alyssa. He almost chuckled

"Damn, if you're like this now, wait till I'm done with you." She had no time to make any pleas or protests, as he immediately grabbed her by the arm, pulled her out of the locker, put her over his shoulder and began walking out of the bathroom.

"Stop! Please, I'll do anything, let me go!" Alyssa began squirming and kicking her legs, but the position was the worst she could be in, as he easily grabbed and stilled her legs and she was completely unable to reach the knife in her boot.

Both his answer and the slap on her ass made her whimper "Oh you'll do anything alright, I'll make sure of that!" She desperately hit his back with her fists to no avail, not only was she especially weak after all she had been through, but she remembered how the experiments seemed to have granted the patients some unnatural strength and resistance.

Out of desperation, she scratched his back with her nails, hoping to at least slow him down or make him hold her from behind like before, which would allow her to reach the knife in her boot, but his low groan in response only scared her more

"Pussycat got her claws out already? Good, I'll give you a reason to scratch my back.."

Alyssa sobbed and went almost limp, watching helplessly as he reached the end of the hallway, walked past the elevator, down the opposite hallway, then took a right and a left into a large room. If she wasn't in such a dire situation, the area would seem quite friendly, with a large TV, couch and desktop computers on the right side, a very thick wooden pillar near the center, then a pool table, bar with stools and armchairs with a coffee table on the left side.

Her panic rose again when Steele pulled her off his shoulder and put her on the side of the pool table. Before she could start struggling, he got between her legs, grabbed her by the neck with one hand and by the rim of her shorts with the other.

"Oh god" her whisper came out by itself when she noticed his thick erection tenting his pants just inches from her, but she regretted speaking when he let out a low chuckle in response

"Yeah, that's for you pussycat, and it's going right up your pussy." Blood rushed to her face and she squirmed as he began unzipping her pants, until he brought her wrists together behind her back and held them there tightly, leaving her more exposed and defenseless than ever. She whined and leaned back as much as she could while he leaned over her and breathed heavy and hot on her neck, then jolted when he forced his hand inside her tight shorts and put pressure on her clit.

Out of reflex, she tried to close her legs, but then quickly stopped when she realized she was just about to wrap them around his hips since he was in the way. With a sob, she tried pleading again

"I beg you, my family has money, we'll give you anything, please just stop!"

A short scream escaped her lips when Steele bit her neck, then licked and sucked the spot before replying

"Yeah? You got a rich mommy and daddy?"

She could tell his interest at least seemed to spark, both from the tone of his voice and from the fact that he stopped licking her neck and turned his face towards her. Alyssa nodded quickly, realizing it might be her only and last chance to escape and answered enthusiastically

"Yes! T-they've got money, we'll give you anything you want if you let me go, I swear on my life, please just let me g-aaah!"

Her pleas were rudely interrupted as he grabbed her breast roughly and began squeezing and kneading it, then leaned in her ear before speaking in a low breathy tone

"Just one problem with that.." She squealed when he suddenly reached for her panties and pulled on them hard, both ripping the lower seam and putting pressure on her clit. "It just so happens that what I want is to fuck your little pussy raw… What would mommy and daddy think of that, huh?"

His chuckle sent chills down her spine and he moved his hand to rub his painfully stiff cock through his pants. Next to dying, this was the last thing in the world she wanted. It wasn't that she was so old fashioned that she was waiting for marriage, but she definitely wanted her first time to happen in a long serious relationship with a man who she shared mutual love with, not raped on a pool table by a criminally insane maxpen inmate in an asylum.

"P-pleas-" Her last attempt to stop him was harshly interrupted when his hand suddenly moved from his crotch to her neck and choked her, not hard enough that she couldn't breathe, but hard enough that she couldn't speak properly.

"Too much talking.. might have to gag you, whadda you think?" Alyssa quickly shook her head no, and he seemed almost displeased. "That's a shame.. You know, I was looking for you for a while, some of the boys told me you were in the prison block with that cunt doc Meyer, that true?"

She bit her lip to remain quiet as he lifted up her torn panties and began to rub the underside of his cock against her exposed clit through his pants then raised her shirt above her bra. Now she wasn't even sure what to do, if she didn't answer him, he might get angry, but it also wasn't unlikely that he was just trying to get her to speak so he could say she was talking too much again and gag her. After a few seconds, she decided to just nod slowly.

"That so? Where'd you go then? We found the bitch and the boys had their fun with her, but I couldn't find you anywhere." A small but smug and playful part of Alyssa's mind wanted to just tell him how she was right under his nose that whole time, but she feared how he would react, he was far too volatile to safely tell him the truth, so she decided to answer with as few words as possible.

"Split up." It only came out as a whisper, and it was followed by Steele's sigh on her neck, his raspy voice and damaged vocal chords making it sound almost like a purr. Just as he leaned back and his hand reached for the zipper on his pants, a loud crashing sound startled both of them.

They froze and looked to Alyssa's right where the noise seemed to originate from, it sounded like broken wood, and only a few meters away. Steele must have heard something she didn't though, as he quickly pulled her off the pool table, grabbed her from behind and hid both of them behind the giant pillar near the center of the room.

Only a syllable managed to leave her lips before he covered her mouth with his hand and held it there tightly. A few moments later, Alyssa heard it too, heavy raspy breathing, sounding increasingly closer, and her heart skipped a beat, she couldn't believe she was in even more trouble, one maniac was more than she could handle, she didn't need another.

Steele pulled her tighter and whispered in her ear quickly

"Listen here pussycat, that's Walker coming our way, there's no other exit and it's too late to run, he'll be here in a few seconds, and if he catches you, he ain't gonna fuck you then let you go like me, he's just gonna rip your damn head off your shoulders, you hear that? So don't make a peep, or we're both dead meat!" He shook her slightly, and Alyssa nodded quickly in understanding.

Uncomfortable in the short wait, she tried to distance at least the lower half of her body from Steele, since his still semi-hard cock was pressing between her buttocks, but only ended up shifting her hips against him, which made him grunt quietly and whisper again

"You're just asking for it now.. Just wait till he sees the empty room and fucks off." Alyssa swallowed then jumped but was held in place when the door was swung open hard and hit the wall.

The sound of the familiar loud and raspy breathing was just a few meters away from them now, standing at the door, examining the room from a far.

 _So whatever happened to him in the sewer didn't end him._ It was a grim realization, while she didn't wish death on anyone, the man seemed relentless in finding and killing people, including her, she much preferred him becoming incapacitated somehow, but there he was again, so close and threatening her life once more. The mental wound of the memory when he chased her through the sewer and was about to rip her head off was still fresh in her mind, she couldn't help but shudder in Steele's arms.

While Walker's presence was petrifying, Alyssa still couldn't deny the opportunity she had been presented with, a very, very dangerous opportunity, at that. She quickly realized that she could bite Steele's hand, scream and create a distraction by giving their location away to Walker, but the possibility of him catching her before she got the chance to slip away was too real and scary. On the other hand, if she did nothing, he would likely leave soon, but then she'd be left with Steele to defile her and who knew, there was no way to be sure he wouldn't kill her later too.

Time was running out, and as much as it terrified her, she hesitantly decided to risk it and go for the former option. Just as she heard Walker turning around and taking a step out of the room, she bit down hard on Steele's finger, he grunted in pain and loosened his grip, which allowed her to scream. Immediately, she heard Walker take in a sharp breath and turn back to face them, but she didn't see it, as Steele suddenly shoved her forward and she landed on the floor.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" He shouted and backed away into the right side of the room. Alyssa scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the windows near the center of the wall, ready to circle around the room then head for the door and run for her life.

To her relief, when she looked behind, she saw Walker run towards Steele instead, who lured the giant man around the pillar then quickly slipped out of the room. She couldn't believe her eyes when Walker began chasing after the other man, but not without throwing her a chilling glare before leaving the room. If she could read minds, she could have sworn he just told her "Stay here, you're next, I'll be back." They were orders Alyssa had no intention to follow, but after a few seconds, she approached the door quietly and felt more relief when she heard the thumping of the men's feet sound further and further away down the halls.

Allowing herself a deep breath, she peeked out the door after putting her clothes back in place. To the left, she could only see darkness, but when she looked right, something painted on the wall in the distance caught her attention. She frowned in confusion and stepped forward quietly, still scared that one or both of the men could come back at any time, she couldn't even decide which one of them was worse.

As she walked closer, the sign on the wall became clear, it was a cross painted with blood. It wasn't the only unsettling sight though, as the words "God hates sickness" were smudged on a wall as well. Alyssa swallowed in anticipation and fear, she was very much in need of a hiding spot, not the risk of coming across any crazy cult members.

The sounds of heavy footsteps in the distance were still faintly audible though, it unsettled and discouraged her from going anywhere but forward, further away from the noise. Peeking past the corner, she noticed a couple of tall candle holders with burning candles on each side of a double door just several feet on the right.

She blinked in confusion and took a few cautious steps forward, then noticed more words painted in blood on the left wall, "God hates money". As she approached the doors, Alyssa began hearing faint whispers and words, and when she peeked inside, she spotted a number of people in the distance, standing around a very large cross.

 _What the…_

Raising her camcorder, she cautiously stepped inside and found herself in a small chapel. Two tables filled with small burning candles were next to the wall on each side, followed by several rows of wooden benches to the left and right side of the room. Beyond them, a clearing with a huge cross in the center, around which a group of patients stood and whispered to each other, and beyond them, a type of altar Alyssa had seen before in churches. Maintaining her distance, she only recorded the scene then prepared to leave, but a familiar voice startled her

"You are here. I knew God would show you the way." Her eyes widened in surprise as Father Martin emerged from behind some patients, and she took a few cautious steps forward.

Due to the dim light and his dark clothing, she couldn't tell for sure, but the preacher seemed almost wet, his clothes not completely dry.

"Father Martin! What's happening here?" Alyssa asked trying to find a polite and not pushy tone.

"All your questions will be answered very soon, my child. Here, I fixed the elevator, it will take you to freedom." She watched wide-eyed as the preacher pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to her. Just as she was about to thank him, the man spoke again "You will leave, and you will spread the gospel to the waiting flock, but not yet. You have this penultimate act of witness left to accomplish, right here."

She tensed up when Father Martin made a hand signal and two patients began walking around the benches and behind her, then panic struck when they each grabbed her arms tightly and held her in place.

"What's-"

"Don't fret child, you will be set free, soon. All of us, we will all be free from death…"

Alyssa struggled to no avail, but stopped when the preacher stepped up on a protrusion at the bottom of the cross, laid his back against it and rose his arms to match the cross. She frowned in confusion and decided to record the event, just in case. When a patient approached Father Martin with some rope and began binding his hands and feet to the cross, alarms begun to go off in her mind.

"Oh no, no! Father Martin, stop!"

The preacher ignored her pleas and spoke as if he didn't even hear them while the men to her sides made her squirming fruitless

"The promise of the prophets was always freedom from death, and here it is. You will watch and record my death, my resurrection, then together we will all be free."

Her heart started racing as another patient approached the man on the cross with a large lit candle, and tears began to form in her eyes as she realized what was about to happen, it was worse than having to watch what happened to Dr. Meyer, the last thing in the world she wanted to witness was someone being burned alive, she had to do something to stop them, or at least stall them until she could get away.

"F-father Martin! Listen, I was in the sewer, a patient was about to kill me but something I couldn't see stopped him!" The preacher responded in the same calm tone as if Alyssa had just told him water is wet.

"I told you child, our Lord will protect you, He always will. Be patient, we will join Him soon." Before she could protest, he signaled towards the man with the lit candle, and he placed it at the feet of the preacher.

In just a few seconds, flames engulfed the man from toes to head, but even worse were the screams. Alyssa looked away after she saw the fire quickly begin to spread across his body, but the horrible wails of agony were something she could not escape. Tears began sliding down her cheeks and she wanted to cover her ears, but the men holding her arms wouldn't allow for it.

It felt like the screaming went on forever, she could almost feel the mental trauma scarring the inside of her brain and knew it was going to be something she would never forget and could affect her for the rest of her life. As the tormented screams continued, the realization struck her of just how mentally ill Father Martin was.

 _Jesus fucking Christ, how screwed up in the head do you have to be to do something like this to yourself!? Disturbed people self-harm and commit suicide sometimes, but to burn yourself alive? This is unbelievable!_

Alyssa tried to focus on her own thoughts and block out the anguished wailing, then, slowly, painfully slowly, they died down until they eventually stopped as the last sliver of life finally left the preacher. The men let go of her arms then walked away, and she was left shaking.

When she gathered the courage to look ahead, she was horrified to see the disfigured, charred and burned body of the man on the cross, while patients bowed in prayer before the scene. A sob escaped her lips as she raised the camcorder with a trembling hand and quickly recorded the sight, then turned and began walking away.

Just a few steps towards the door and she stumbled, her legs were unstable, but not in a worse condition than her emotional state. Breathing heavily, she managed to stabilize herself and walk out of the chapel, not daring another look behind.

The trauma had temporarily blocked her recent memories, the threat of Steele or Walker being nearby hadn't even crossed her mind. When she reached the room with the Murkoff picture on the wall, the brightly lit elevator caught her attention and reminded her of the key that Father Martin gave her.

As shaken as she was, she didn't want to waste more time crying around and leaving herself open to more danger, so she rushed inside the cabin, pulled the other key out of the control panel, dropped it on the floor and stared at the one in her hand, the one that was supposed to take her to freedom.

 _Please god… just take me to ground floor._ She sniffled and inserted the key in the hole, which wasn't easy, due to her hand still quivering slightly, twisted it, and the gate slid over the elevator door.

Pressing the ground floor button made the cabin tremble briefly, then, to Alyssa's delight, it began descending. With a heavy sigh of relief, she checked the camcorder, which revealed only ten percent left of battery life. She pressed a few buttons and completely stopped the recording and saved the video file, then gently snapped the screen on the side shut and placed the device on her belt.

As the elevator kept descending, a strange serene calm took over her when she realized it was all about to be over. And right on time, she was at the end of her rope, she felt beyond exhausted physically and mentally, dirty, bloody, injured in various places, violated, and especially emotionally and mentally scarred. She closed her eyes and leaned on the wall hugging her arms around her chest, her mind already dreaming of a hot bath and a warm bed where she was sure she'd sleep for at least twelve hours. Before she got too lost in thoughts, however, the harsh reality snapped her out of it.

 _Don't get too ahead of yourself now.. Still need to find that control room and wipe the surveillance footage before I leave, or Murkoff will find me within hours, police protection or not. Have to be careful with that too, cops can be bribed, or even intimidated by powerful corporations. Murkoff's higher-ups will do everything in their power to avoid prosecution, expect legal authorities to either disappear or refuse to get involved. And people to freak out once I put this online…_ She glanced at the empty taser gun in the holster on her belt. _My jacket, the charges, the batteries, the blood.. normally I would say it's unlikely to be traced by such things once I'm out, I'll be one person among millions, but.. we're dealing with Murkoff here, the world's leading expert in biometric security.._

She bit her lip in bitter understanding, it wasn't unlikely that her days were numbered, and it broke her heart, because she knew how much it would break her family's hearts if the worst case scenario came true. At the very least, she hoped her sacrifice would expose and ruin Murkoff so no one would suffer at their hands again. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would eventually become some sort of martyr, but she didn't have much of a choice.

A few tears slid down her cheeks as everything began to sink in, she couldn't deny that she likely didn't have long to live, and it terrified her. Her mind raced and tried to find solutions, but it was fruitless, she was well aware that she was just one normal person against a massive, extremely rich and powerful world-wide corrupt corporation that was long suspected and even accused of silencing dissenters. Even worse, she wasn't just a dissenter, she was an outsider about to expose all their heinous inhumane work for the whole world to see. The chances of staying alive after doing something like that were slim to none. She swallowed painfully, then paused her pessimistic thoughts when the elevator slowed down and stopped on the ground floor.

A small sigh escaped her lips remembering that, if she couldn't get the front doors open, and if the elevator wouldn't work again when she returned, she would have to find a way up one floor to get to the window she came in through.

 _That's fine, and if the way's still blocked by debris, I'll clear it and go, don't think Walker's gonna find his way down here so quickly.._ The elevator remained stationary on the ground floor for several seconds by then, yet the gate still hadn't slid to the side.

Alyssa blinked in confusion and reached for it, it was just one problem after another, the last thing she wanted was to be stuck in an elevator and have to climb cables out in the shaft or something equally dangerous. She tried to push and pull the gate to no avail, then stopped when the cabin shook slightly and the elevator made a metallic groan.

In the next moment, Alyssa felt like all her insides collapsed when the cabin abruptly began descending again. She took a step back and her eyes darted around in bewilderment, as if her brain couldn't process what was happening, and she pinched her forearm to make sure she wasn't having a nightmare. It did hurt, and confirmed the unbelievable reality that she really was going down, the elevator beginning to descend faster than it ever moved. Her breath froze in her lungs when she suddenly remembered.

 _Something below. The underground lab._

The realization that she was heading not only away from an exit but directly towards possibly the worst and most dangerous part of the asylum was too much for her to handle, her knees gave in, she fell to the floor and continued to watch in horror as she was taken deeper and deeper below.

When the elevator eventually stopped, the final heavy noise it let out before going completely silent and still felt like a lid thrown over her casket. As expected, reaching up and buttoning the control panel yielded no results, not even another sound, it was like the elevator just died right down there, along with all her hopes of survival.

It was the last straw, Alyssa couldn't bear it anymore, she crumpled to the floor in a heap and began crying uncontrollably. Between sobs, her fist kept hitting the ground in impotent frustration and helpless desperation, she didn't even care about her loud wailing attracting unwanted attention, she was at her wit's end and found it nearly impossible to bother being quiet.

In a way, she almost hoped someone would end her misery right then and there, since she didn't think it too unlikely that there could be people down there that could capture her and, after finding her camcorder, strap her to a table and make her regret the day she was born. A tiny pool of tears began to grow under her face as she grit her teeth in despair and regrets began filling her mind.

 _I'm sorry mom… I… I'm not coming home…_ Her fist clenched so hard her fingernails left red marks in her skin when the words "ever again" insisted to finish the sentence.


	10. Chapter 10

Several minutes later, Alyssa's sobs quieted down and she eventually stopped crying, mostly because she felt like she had no tears left. As she slowly rose from the floor and up onto weak legs, she cared to look ahead at her surroundings. Just a short hallway with multiple pipes running across the walls and a pair of double doors straight ahead.

Almost in a trance state, she walked towards them slowly, she felt like a zombie, barely cognizant of what she was doing. After a sniffle and nearly banging her head on the doors, she swung one open, and the sight snapped her out of whatever trance of hopelessness she was trapped in.

The straight tunnel ahead seemed made of ice at first glance, but when she touched it, it felt like stone, white bright stone, made even brighter by the neon lights on the ceiling. Stepping ahead cautiously, she couldn't remove the puzzled and somewhat curious expression from her face, the area seemed so pristine, a far cry from many of the dilapidated areas in the asylum above.

It hadn't lasted long, however, when she swung open the door at the end of the tunnel, she was met with a large, partially circular room, the walls made of the same white stone as before, but the blood and body parts on the floor made her cringe and look away, as well as the dead security guard near the large desk in the center of the room. Behind the desk stood a wall with two large monitors on it, the left one simply displaying the Murkoff Corporation logo, but the one on the right cemented her worst fears.

"Walrider Project…" her voice came out with a shiver, and she felt more strength leave her already weakened body. All the strange and disturbing things she'd been told and saw flashed through her mind and raised the hairs on the back of her neck, she had a very bad feeling about it.

Without much of a choice, Alyssa kept walking towards the only exit out of the room on the right. It lead to a left-curving tunnel, and after the turn, she was once again met with a mangled corpse on the side, dressed in a laboratory garb, and to her disgust, his intestines were hanging out of his abdomen and his blood pooled close to the opposite wall.

Covering her mouth and nose with her hand to keep away any potential smell, she kept her distance from the body and hopped over the blood, then found herself looking down a fairly long tunnel with a pair of double doors ahead and a couple single metallic doors on the right side.

The architecture seemed bizarre to Alyssa, it almost looked like some of the stone had grown over and around the walls, the way it seemed to intersect with the building at odd angles. She opened the first door and was met with a straight corridor, but on the wall far ahead she could see blood, an unsettling amount of blood, it was enough to make her curious about other ways to go.

As she walked towards the other door, however, she caught sight of the recording camera above, fixed on her. It was too late to stop, so she didn't, reminding herself that she will erase surveillance footage before leaving. When she approached the second door, she noticed the strange markings on each side of it, made up of four triangles, almost like a three-petal flower. Just as she was about to reach for it, a voice made her jump, and the door began hissing open

"So I see someone had survived. Please, come in, I must explain, before he kills you too". The voice had a heavy German accent, sounded male and rather old. After Alyssa cautiously stepped inside, she was startled to see the old man it belonged to, sitting in a large, rather technologically-advanced looking wheelchair, wearing a light grey suit, with very pale skin and barely moving. As rude as it was to think it, she had to admit to herself that he looked like a corpse.

He was, however, behind a wall of reinforced glass, resting next to a desk with a computer through which Alyssa assumed he must have spotted her on the security camera. On the right was a bookshelf extending as tall and wide as the wall, straight ahead was a large painting that Alyssa could have sworn she'd seen before but just couldn't place it, and on the left was a monitor displaying the same strange symbol she saw outside next to the door.

When she glanced near the corner of her own side of the room, she flinched when she noticed more torn up people with their guts hanging out. Interestingly, they were men wearing some sort of military garb, yet didn't look like any recognizable military branch uniform, so she assumed they must be some sort of mercenaries paid by Murkoff to intervene in case of a security emergency, not to mention the fact that it was very unlikely for the whole highly illegal operation to remain secret if the real military was involved.

"What happened here?.." She asked almost automatically and glanced back at the old man in the wheelchair, who turned and approached the monitor on the wall before speaking, his voice coming through the loudspeaker near the ceiling

"Do you know what this symbol represents?"

Alyssa shook her head, then added a curious "no", and quickly pulled her camcorder out and began recording as the man continued

"It warns of a nanohazard. Microscopic machines, technology we have had for decades, but never mastered. Murkoff discovered, in my research, a work-a-round. Turning the cells of human bodies into nanofactories. It's the natural function of cells to produce molecules, but through psychosomatic direction, we engineered the precise molecules necessary. Mind over body. It was.. foolish and wrong to think we could control it. To use mad men to control something so strong. The only one who has managed to maintain a degree of control is Billy. … You.. have to stop him. You have to kill him, turn off his life support. If you don't, it will kill us all, and it will spread, the engine is self-perpetuating… No one can leave this place while Billy lives, you have to kill him, you are the only one left."

By the time the man finished his speech, Alyssa's jaw had dropped and a perplexed frown remained on her face, she had never felt more baffled and overwhelmed, she wasn't even sure where to start, but she had to try, it was finally her chance to get some answers.

"Okayyy.. I'm afraid I don't fully understand. So Murkoff played with dangerous nanotechnology and it got out of control? What exactly did Billy have success controlling? And, just, who are you?"

The old man turned back to face her

"My name is Doctor Rudolf Wernicke, scientist, mathematician, researcher, and, I'm afraid, Murkoff affiliate… It is the swarm of nanorobots, it took possession of Billy. It is… unstable. The other scientists called it the Walrider. More German folklore, those fools."

Alyssa felt her stomach twist, but then a realization hit her "Wait a minute, I remember reading your obituary back in 2009!"

"That is true, I am supposed to be dead. No such luck, I'm afraid, Billy insists on keeping me alive. He may see me as a father figure, the poor idiot. He means no harm, he is a child with a damaged mind, but he was granted the powers of a god, it would drive anyone insane. It is too dangerous, you have to kill Billy, and the swarm with him."

She bit her lip as her glance dropped to the floor "I can't just kill someone, I'm not a murderer… But even if I could… I don't get it, how does killing a person also destroy a swarm of nano machines?"

Dr. Wernicke remained quiet for several seconds, Alyssa hoped he hadn't fallen asleep, or worse, but then he spoke again

"There are many things we do not fully understand… but we know that it needs a host to survive. I'm afraid I don't have more answers for you. Now, you have to find Billy and disable his life-support systems, you have to end it here with your death. If you fail, and the swarm escapes, there will be… disastrous consequences."

She swallowed and shook her head, but when she was about to speak again, a click was heard over the loudspeaker above

"Hello? Hey, wait, I had more questions, please!" She tapped on the glass but the old man turned away from her and offered no response. Figuring that he wasn't going to change his mind, she gave up and decided to try the hallway she first refused.

When she walked back towards it, she passed by the security camera once again, and a small but important realization hit her.

 _Wait a minute, get your head back together, this lab is separate and quite far away from the asylum above, so they probably monitor security from a separate location down here. Need to keep my eyes open for a control room nearby._

Down the other hallway, Alyssa noticed a Cafeteria sign above an opened set of doors, but she quickly changed her mind about checking it out when she already spotted the guts on the tables and blood splattered on the walls.

 _Jesus Christ, I still don't understand.. did.. how do nanobots do that to a human being? Tsk, if someone told me I need to study nanotechnology before venturing into a mental asylum I would've laughed in their face._

At the end of the hall she was met with the huge pool of blood, she couldn't avoid it, she stepped in it and took a left, passing by a few rooms that looked like a mix between operating theaters and dissection rooms, she didn't want to think about what horrors took place inside, but the top half of a patient lying on a table gave her a good idea. Since she was low on batteries and already filmed so many horrors, plus the fact that she didn't want to have to look at more through the camcorder, she decided against recording more corpses, figuring that if the things she'd filmed so far weren't going to get Murkoff into trouble, then nothing would.

Walking past a large circular silver container, she almost stumbled when she stepped so close to another half of a body behind it, a scientist. The sights still made her feel ill and she couldn't bare looking for more than a second, but it unsettled her that there were so many that it didn't feel like a surprise anymore.

On the wall at the end of the hallway sat a sign with words she was familiar with from the Patient Reports she read, and an arrow pointed to the right.

"Morphogenic Engine Chambers"? Alyssa swallowed and hesitantly followed the direction. After a short stone corridor with a decontamination chamber in the middle, she found herself in a small room almost drenched in blood, with a desk on the right and a dead security guard hanging limp on the chair behind a computer monitor.

Straight ahead she was met with a pair of double doors with _Warning: restricted area. Authorized personnel only_ signs on each side. Fearing what she might find inside, she decided to postpone the trip through those doors and instead turned her attention to a single one behind the dead guard. Her luck had seemed to change, at least briefly, when she walked inside the small room with a computer on a desk and many monitors attached to the wall above.

 _Alright now, let's do this._

It wasn't simple, and it took a few minutes, but Alyssa managed to deactivate all the cameras on the level and erase some of the footage they had recorded. However, deleting the entire video archive was restricted, the farthest back she could delete was one day. Hoping that when the police came they could use the footage recorded, and also to minimize her meddling, she settled to delete only the past thirty minutes, so her digital tracks would be erased.

When she exited the small room, she was once again met with the double doors with warning signs on each side, not giving her an inviting vibe. She was afraid, but at the same time, she felt like she had already been through so much, and getting out alive seemed so out of reach, that she might as well just see everything she could. As she approached, she paused briefly when she thought she heard a muffled crashing sound in the distance, it was so faint she wasn't even sure if she really heard it, so she dismissed it and continued her journey.

Beyond the doors, she walked through a fairly short curving white stone tunnel, then when she took the left turn, she was taken aback by the set of massive metallic doors that, to her, resembled sliding doors found in missile silos. After slowly approaching them, she slightly jumped as they began sliding open with a metallic creak.

Instead of a missile, she was met with a puzzling but still intimidating sight, partly due to the fact that she wasn't sure what she was looking at. The first chamber she found herself in seemed fairly normal for a science lab, several desks with computers and chairs, monitors displayed on the walls, but both the front wall and door of the room were made of reinforced glass, and the sight beyond the glass made her jaw drop.

The most impressive construct in the gigantic room ahead was the almost equally gigantic sphere in the center, nearly black with strange triangular formations all around it and patterns of bright pulsating white lights. At the bottom of the sphere sat more consoles and monitors displaying things Alyssa didn't understand, repeating and changing numbers, waving lines, shifting sequences, even MRI images. On the floor around the giant sphere she noticed a number of smaller spheres, transparent and hollow, held in place by metallic supports at the back with a large number of cables going inside them.

It was certainly a sight worth recording. She preferred the glass wall out of the way, however, as it was blurry and unclear in places, but when she approached the door, she noticed it didn't even have a handle and seemed sealed shut. With a small, unsurprised sigh, she walked back near the center and closer to the glass wall to get a better view and took out her camcorder. She switched the nearly dead battery with the last one she had, raised the device and filmed the area ahead, moving it slowly and zooming in and out at times, making sure to get everything on camera.

She had to do a double-take, however, when she panned over one of the spheres and spotted a vaguely humanoid figure. As she zoomed in, it became all too clear, and she involuntarily gasped. Inside one of the spheres was a nearly nude man, his body twisted and held in place by restraints in a backwards bent position that couldn't have been comfortable. What disturbed her the most were the number of tubes and needles going into the man's body, through his mouth, nose, chest, spine, even his limbs seemed pierced by something, all connecting to the back of the sphere.

Both horrified and slightly curious, she took a few steps forward and placed a hand on the glass while watching the man, she could tell his eyes were open, but not what he was looking at. Moments later, the words of the boy she met earlier came back to mind.

 _"The man in the glass bubble was there"._ Alyssa swallowed when she remembered the words of Dr. Wernicke next, she understood that this was the person he insisted that she kills. Placing the camcorder back on her belt, she let a soft but pained sigh leave her, there was no doubt that she wanted to help the man, not kill him.

Alyssa shifted her eyes ahead, leaned forward and rested her head and other hand on the glass, feeling lost and out of ideas, emotions she had unfortunately grown too familiar with. Taking a moment for herself, she allowed her eyelids to slightly droop and relax, she watched as her breath made a tiny blurry spot around her nose on the glass before vanishing quickly, and wanted to decide what to do next, but she couldn't think of anything apart from turning around and searching for some sort of alternate exit.

Trying to brainstorm some ideas yielded no results, her mind was almost as tired as her body, she needed to rest so badly, and the feeling of the cool glass on her forehead was somewhat soothing, only making her want to sleep more. A few seconds later, she noticed her vision growing blurry near the center, so she blinked to clear her eyes. Still, the blurriness hadn't vanished, so she blinked a few more times, but with no progress.

She frowned slightly, then when she moved her gaze, she could see that the blur in her vision would not move with it, it remained still, as one vertical oval spot, beyond the glass in front of the giant construct in the room. It only confused her more, her frown deepened and she cocked her head slightly to the side as she kept watching the spot, and blinked again when she could have sworn she saw some sort of movement in it, yet it remained in place.

Gradually, the patch of blur began to vaguely expand, but Alyssa's heart started to pump harder when she noticed the spot darken, slowly but surely. At that point, she was really beginning to consider that she was hallucinating, so she rubbed both eyes, but when she looked back, she was stunned to see the spot morph into the faint shape of a humanoid figure.

Alyssa's jaw dropped and her eyes grew increasingly wide as the figure darkened until it was nearly pitch black and seemed to finish its transformation. It was the most frightening and surreal thing she'd ever witnessed, only several meters away stood the dark silhouette, shaped like a tall man, with no discernible features on its face, like a three-dimensional shadow just by itself.

A wave of cold chills went down Alyssa's spine and her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs as she just stared at it, the only thing she could hear being the heavy thumping of her heart, she was almost mesmerized. When she remembered that her eyes weren't paralyzed, she took a closer look and noticed black bones appearing where the figure's feet and lower half of the shins were supposed to be, the same on its hands and forearms.

It still hadn't moved an inch, and neither did Alyssa, feeling nailed in place by both fascination but mostly terror. While it didn't have any eyes she could see, its face, or where its face was supposed to be, was directed at her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was staring her down the entire time. She wasn't sure how, but she just knew exactly what the entity was, the thought came to her by itself.

 _Walrider_.

The next moment, her heart skipped a beat as she watched the Walrider begin to float up, slowly, until his feet were several inches off the floor. Her rational mind was screaming at her to run as fast as she could, immediately, but she just felt mesmerized.

Whatever trance she was in was abruptly ended when he lunged towards her, she screamed as she stumbled back and fell on her rear. She yelped again when he hit the reinforced transparent wall with so much force it created a massive dent all the way to the ceiling and fragmented heavily, turning white but still remaining in place.

Scrambling to her feet, she ran away with so much speed it surprised her, she didn't understand how none of her wounds bothered her anymore and she had an incredible boost of energy, only later to realize she had the adrenaline to thank. She sprinted out the tunnel she came in through, out the door, slipped and nearly fell on the blood in the room with the dead guard, then dashed into the decontamination chamber.

While she was forced to wait for the gas to flow in then dissipate, the harsh realization of what really was happening hit her like a ton of bricks: the Walrider had just seen her and was trying to catch her and turn her into one of the countless torn apart corpses she kept coming across. It made her blood run cold, her eyes watered quickly and she had to hold herself from bursting into tears, she did not want to die, whatever loss of willpower to escape she experienced before had vanished completely, she desperately wanted to live.

The door of the chamber hissed open and she resumed her sprint, not even daring to look behind. Taking a left, she reached the hallway with the huge pool of blood, but she had to choose a path, straight ahead was an unknown area she hadn't checked before, and to the right she knew was a dead elevator along with more places she hadn't seen yet. In her panic, she decided to go for the unexplored area that was closest, so she kept dashing forward, still at surprising speed and lack of any physical pain.

Just as she passed by the split in the hallway, she thought she must be really having a hallucination this time, or that the universe was playing some sort of sick joke on her. From behind the left corner stepped out Chris Walker, as terrifying and bent on killing as ever, covered in even more blood than before. She stopped and turned as quickly as she could without losing her balance and falling, then took off down the hallway she'd come through before.

"Don't you hear it? Come here, little pig!" he shouted at her and, as she expected, he immediately began following, his too familiar thumping footsteps and heavy raspy breathing not too far behind. Alyssa managed to speak between her own hurried breaths as she ran out of the hallway and took a right, past Wernicke's chamber

"Listen! I don't hear anything, but I saw something really dangerous, please stop, both our lives are at risk!" In response, she only got one word

"Contain."

With no time nor oxygen for more questions while she ran, she went shoulder first into a pair of double doors and thanked god that they opened, then continued sprinting down an unfamiliar hallway. The blood on the walls and torn corpses on the ground and inside the operating rooms on the left side were familiar, but when she reached and read the sign on the wall ahead, a sliver of hope rose in her mind.

 _Delivery exit?! Please god!_

To her chagrin, beyond the double doors she was met with another corridor, only narrower, and stacked with barrels and crates to the sides and in the way. On the right, she passed by a glass door, but she was moving too fast to even begin slowing down and going that way, the only thing she spotted in the fraction of a second as she ran by was a nearly empty room with a pair of doors on the right wall.

Vaulting over the obstacles, she allowed herself a quick glance over the shoulder when she nearly reached the end of the hallway but to her surprise, Walker was nowhere in sight; she figured she had run very fast due to the adrenaline, either that, or he was slower than she'd realized. The next second she received another harsh dose of reality as she bumped into the doors ahead and they refused to budge no matter how hard she pushed or pulled and twisted the handle.

 _No, no, no, I'm trapped!_ Suddenly, the door she ran past came back to mind, so without a moment to spare, she ran back to it and prayed Walker wasn't going to show up too soon.

Thanking whatever higher power she thought may have been looking after her for making it in time, she slid the glass door open then closed it and dashed through the doors on the right, only to be met with a dead end in a medium sized room. Her heart sank when she didn't see any other exit, only a group of servers to her right, followed by a couple of large silver barrels in the far corner, and a shelf with medication next to them. On the wall ahead, however, she noticed a large whiteboard with the words _Morphogenic Engine_ written as a title, below which were three strings of mathematical equations. To the left, she could only see a desk and a few large industrial refrigerators lined up on the wall.

The sound of heavy footsteps thumping closer confirmed that it was too late to turn back and try to find another way, that was it, she was truly trapped. With no other option, Alyssa decided to hide between the group of servers on the right and the barrels in the corner, and pray that Walker would only have a look inside the room from the doorway, fail to see her, and leave.

She crouched behind the servers and hugged her knees to her chest like a terrified child while the footsteps grew nearer, then stopped right outside the glass door. Whatever hope she had that he would at least go straight ahead first, then come across the blocked doors and perhaps give her a window to sneak out and run back down the hallway was shattered when she heard the sound of glass actually shattering, and the man's heavy breathing became clear. She bit her lip when he spoke under his breath "Little pig…" and swung both doors open harshly.

He took a step inside, and to Alyssa's horror, it was followed by another, and another, until he was almost right in line with her, then began looking around. Seeing that, she brought her trembling hands together, closed her watering eyes tightly and actually began praying. It felt like time slowed down tenfold, the man's raspy breath along with her own pounding heart were the only things she could hear in the darkness. Her eyes opened when she heard the man speak again "Shhh, one's close.." then felt like her heart completely froze when he finished "You don't have to hide from me."

She had no time to wonder whether or not he could tell that she was there, the mystery was resolved in the next moment. Time resumed its normal pace as she was hit by a wave of pain, and then another, bigger one, when Walker leaned over, grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her against the whiteboard on the wall.

All the air escaped her lungs upon impact, but before she managed to shake it off and try to slip around the man, his huge bloody hand already gripped her throat tightly, pinning her to the wall. It made breathing very difficult, and speaking virtually impossible, even if she did want to try to reason with him, which, at that point, after all the failed attempts, she didn't believe it possible anymore.

He seemed to have remembered the way she slipped out of his grasp the previous time, as he quickly put his right knee on the side of her right leg, preventing any potential kicks from reaching him, before the idea to do that trick again came to her mind. She squirmed as hard as she could, punched his chest, pulled on his hand and scratched him, but he hadn't even flinched, let alone loosened his grip.

When she looked up, the only thing she could see was his horrifying scarred face through wet eyes, then in half a second, his other hand squeezed the top of her head. Tears began flowing down her cheeks and her life flashed before her eyes, the most important and sweet moments from the past came and went like pictures on a film reel as she began feeling the chilling upwards pull in her neck.

She refused to allow her killer's carved face to be the last thing she saw before death, so she closed her eyes tightly and thought of her family. As the ache in her muscles increased, she did her best to mentally distance herself from the situation and find a peaceful place inside a memory of her and her family on a vacation when she was a child and her brother was just a toddler.

She wanted to break down and cry, but even if she had the time before her head was torn from her body, she didn't think she could breathe enough to cry. Still, the realization of how final this was remained undeniable, she had escaped with her life several times before, she fought for survival against homicidal maniacs, sadistic doctors and insane patients, but it hadn't lasted, it had to end eventually, she only hated that it had to end like that. The fact that there was nothing she could do about it hurt so badly, especially because of how she knew it would hurt her family when they found out.

Powerless to do anything else, she decided to say her goodbyes to them quietly in her mind.

 _I'm so sorry, I love you._ Then waited for the silence to come.

At first, she assumed her brain was playing tricks on her again with a distorted time perception, due to the fact that it felt like forever, until suddenly she heard Walker take in a sharp breath, and the pull on her neck abruptly froze while his grip loosened just a hair. She couldn't tell how much of her confusion was because of the lack of oxygen to her brain or from the fact that he stopped trying to decapitate her, but when she felt his hand loosen more until it allowed her to breathe, she had to open her eyes. The sight nearly made her lose consciousness all by herself, without the need of Walker's hand squeezing her airways.


	11. Chapter 11

To her left stood the dark shape of the Walrider, barely a foot away, at eye level with the giant, his skeletal hand gripping tightly around the man's wrist, who stared back at the shadowy figure with an expression Alyssa could identify with some difficulty as shock and fear on his carved flesh. Walker's breathing grew faster and even heavier than usual, she watched perplexed as his wrist was squeezed tighter then slowly pulled away from her neck, and the man rasped

"Swarm…"

The next few seconds were a terrifying blur of the giant man's screams, blood, guts and sounds of broken bones while his body was thrown against the walls, ceiling and floor by the dark figure, crashed into the servers on the side, smashed over the barrels in the corner, then finally his legs landed on the desk next to Alyssa and his upper body tossed on the floor outside the room.

She remained in place backed up against the whiteboard, stained with some of Walker's blood, her eyes wide and frozen in shock while both her legs and jaw trembled. Her heart felt like it was about to explode when the Walrider landed back down and turned towards her, but she didn't know what to do, she knew she was in grave danger, but she was petrified and beyond confused, she didn't understand why he had stopped Walker just to kill her himself. He began stepping towards her on skeletal feet, and if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was somehow draining the life out of her, she felt weaker by the second.

When he stood just one foot away, towering over her by nearly two heads, she felt the room spin, all the physical, mental and emotional trauma accumulated, especially in the past minutes, was too much for her body to handle, her legs began failing her and she started to slowly slide down the wall, over the whiteboard. She was stopped, however, when the Walrider placed both skeletal hands under her rib cage, and she whimpered then prepared for a similar gruesome death. Throwing a quick glance to the right and seeing the lower half of Walker's body made her want to break down with the understanding that she was moments away from sharing the man's fate, but as the seconds passed, nothing seemed to happen.

Instead of her flesh and bones being violently torn apart and spread around the room, she began feeling a tingling sensation below her chest where his hands were. Allowing herself a fast but deep breath in, she blinked a few times in confusion, and the tingling sensation intensified then introduced a slight pressure around her chest and abdomen. What made her more terrified, if it was even possible, was how the tingling and pressure were inside her muscles and abdominal cavity, not simply on her skin.

Suddenly, a shocking realization flashed through her mind, the stories she'd been told about people being blown up, seemingly exploding from the inside out, and she instantly became certain that would be her fate in the immediate future. Terrified at the revelation she'd convinced herself to be true, she sobbed and tried to slide away to the left, but her already weakened body was easily held in place as the Walrider pushed her against the whiteboard slightly harder, and all the hairs rose on the back of her neck when she heard a low gravelly growl come from the swarm.

Within several seconds, the tingling inside her body escalated drastically, all her muscles felt like countless ants had invaded them and began marching through the fiber, as well as under her skin. She whimpered in discomfort and fear, but it wasn't necessarily painful, and as much as it confused her, she was grateful that no pain had come, at least not yet.

In the following moments, she began feeling very dizzy and disoriented, her vision grew blurry and her hearing muffled while a slight pressure between her ears made itself noticeable. The lack of understanding about what was happening to her body with the bizarre symptoms deeply unsettled her, but she was powerless to protest, the intense tingling inside her began to slowly simmer down, yet her mind felt like it was going to black out very soon. Which, to her dismay, it really did, just seconds later.

It only felt like closing her eyes and losing consciousness for two minutes at most, though, and when she woke up, she found herself laying under the whiteboard, with no shadow man in sight. She took in a sharp breath and her eyes shot open wide as she rose to her knees, scanning the room in bewilderment.

 _What… happened to me? Where is the… Walrider?_ Not daring to think she might be safe and too scared to leave, she slowly rose to her feet and glanced around the room, it looked just like before, and not a sound was heard.

She waited, a minute, and another, then eventually realized she was just wasting time at that point, nothing seemed to happen, everything was quiet. When some of the shock wore off, Alyssa began to recognize a very vague feeling in some remote location of her mind, but the more she tried to identify it, the more it seemed to slip away out of grasp. She frowned in confusion and tried again, to no avail. Chalking it up to her mind playing tricks on her after all she had been through, she decided to discard it, yet it faintly remained in the back of her mind.

She shook her head slightly and ignored it then began stepping towards the door, her muscles still felt somewhat tingly and none of her strength had returned, suggesting that she was indeed passed out and rested for just a few minutes at most. Beyond the door she was met with the top half of Walker's body, which fortunately was facing away, she did not want to see his face again, but still caught a glimpse of his viscera spilled on the floor.

Before she left, however, she decided to turn around and record the strange equations on the whiteboard she had nearly been killed against. Raising the camcorder from her belt, she zoomed in on the Morphogenic Engine formula and got it on film, figuring that it must be valuable information to someone who knew what they were actually looking at and could understand it. Reaching the hallway she was trapped in before, she glanced to the right and noticed the same blocked doors from earlier, and when she glanced left, she sighed, remembering the dead elevator.

Brainstorming for what to do next, she remembered the Morphogenic Engine chamber where she assumed the Walrider had broken through the glass-like wall, and decided it was worth a try investigating the area and hopefully finding some sort of alternate exit.

She climbed over the crates and barrels blocking the path with difficulty, then took a left down the wider hallway. As she walked, however, she kept having an inexplicable feeling of being watched, something she couldn't shake off despite her efforts. A security camera caught her attention next, and she thought she understood, she assumed it was the camera filming her, until she noticed it was pointed closer to the floor and recalled it was shut down by her own hands earlier.

Trying to discard the feeling as justified paranoia after all the things that happened, she continued dragging her weak legs forward, but soon, the sense of being watched was accompanied by the feeling of a presence behind her. She swiftly glanced over her shoulder as she walked, but saw nothing at all.

The only movement in the whole area seemed to be her own, and the only sounds were the soft plops her boots would make when she stepped in blood puddles.

When she reached Wernicke's chamber though, she paused, as the door was wide open. Not only was the first metallic door open, but when she glanced inside, she noticed that so was the glass door separating the room, and the man was nowhere in sight. It gave her a feeling of encouragement, the part of her mind that still clung to the hope of making it out alive rationalized that Wernicke must know another way out and left, or perhaps a way to get the elevator working again, but then tried to dismiss the feeling, she didn't know how much more disappointment she could take, so she preferred to not get her hopes up without solid reasons.

There was no sound coming from down the tunnel that lead to the elevator, reinforcing her thoughts that it was still dead and deserted. Taking the next door past Wernicke's room, she walked down the hall where she ran for her life from Walker for the last time, and a shiver ran down her spine when she recalled what happened to the man. The memory brought back all the unanswered questions that baffled her, how was she still alive, why did the Walrider stop Walker from tearing her head off, why did he not kill her next, what did he do to her, and why in the world was the bizarre feeling of a presence behind her not going away. Once again, she glanced over her shoulder and saw nothing, so she continued on, past the cafeteria that somewhat resembled a slaughterhouse.

Alyssa felt a foolish sense of safety that she insisted she should push away but found it difficult to, since everyone seemed to be dead, including the menace Walker who had been trying to murder her just minutes after she first stepped foot in the asylum, and, the most puzzling of all, the Walrider had found her and hadn't even harmed her. Things didn't make much sense before she came underground, but all this was taking it to the next level.

When she reached the Morphogenic Engine chamber, she was relieved to see that the glass was indeed shattered, allowing her access into the room with the massive spherical construct.

 _Is this the Morphogenic engine?.._ She cocked her head slightly looking at the mysterious machine, then glanced to the left and spotted the man in the glass bubble again, Billy, the one Wernicke insisted she kills. She scoffed, knowing full well she would never be able to bring herself to harm someone like that. _If I get out, they'll come get you out of here too, I promise.._

Seeing the man stuck inside the glass prison and contorted in that painful position with needles and wires stuck into his body was a hard reminder that it was not only her life that depended on finding an exit, it was also all the people that Murkoff had been torturing inside and underneath the asylum. It was far more weight on her shoulders than she was used to, but it reinforced her resolve of getting out.

There were only two ways out of the huge room, and she kicked the door on the left after it refused to budge no matter how she tried to open it. With some disappointment, she headed towards the door on the other side of the room, and was relieved to find out that it easily swung open, revealing one of the white stone tunnels with another set of doors at the end.

Stepping through and avoiding a large pool of blood on the floor and splattered on the wall nearly all the way up to the ceiling, Alyssa went past the double doors and found herself in a rather strange room. Several huge glass cylinders containing some sort of white flowing gas were connected to pipes leading out of the room and separated by a catwalk. At the end of the room, she could see the catwalk leading up some stairs and towards a glass sealed area with a number of computers and monitors displaying more numbers and images she didn't understand.

She walked around and examined the area rather quickly, which led her to the realization that there was no other exit out of the room. Her heart sunk, and she couldn't contain her shout "Fuck!" She didn't care if someone heard her anymore, the frustration and feeling of being trapped like a rat in a maze were becoming too unbearable. Unsure if there were any ways she hadn't gone yet, she decided to first go back to the elevator and hope for a miracle, hope that it would somehow work, despite being dead ever since she arrived underground, and if it still wasn't working, then search for another way, if there were any left.

After a heavy sigh, she walked back and past the broken glass into the control room before the Morphogenic Engine chamber, but then slowed to a halt once she turned the corner down the tunnel. The double doors ahead were closed shut, but she could have sworn she left them open when she came in a few minutes earlier.

Her heart picked up the pace slightly, she had enough very big unanswered questions, she didn't need such small things to start messing with her already exhausted mind. With a confused frown, she slowly began approaching the doors, but when she was just a few feet away, they were swung open, and the sight ahead froze the breath in her lungs.

Several men in the same military gear she'd seen on the dead ones before stood in the next room, with assault rifles raised and pointed right at her. Behind them, Alyssa could see Dr. Wernicke in his chair, not saying a word. Slowly, her hands went up almost by themselves as her jaw dropped in shock and trembled.

Time felt like it slowed down, and her submission hadn't seemed to change anything, the men hadn't lowered their weapons, on the contrary, to Alyssa's dread, some of them raised them slightly higher to look down the sights with more accuracy. She could not believe it, they were really preparing to open fire on her, after everything she had been through, after running and hiding for her life from insane homicidal maniacs, slipping out of a rapist's grasp, fighting off a sadistic Murkoff executive, escaping Walker multiple times, nearly getting her head torn off her neck twice, and somehow surviving the killing machine known as the Walrider, she couldn't believe this was how everything was about to end, being shot to death by a bunch of armed thugs paid by Murkoff to clean up their mess.

Her heartbeat thumped loudly in her head, then it was joined by the echoing of Dr. Wernicke's voice

"I told you it has to end here."

There was no time to protest, the next moment a bright muzzle flash and an ear piercing bang sent a shock of immense pain radiating through her body, focused in her abdomen where the bullet had penetrated through flesh and organs.

The intense agony seemed to bring time back to normal speed, but then another bullet pierced her chest, and then another, and another, and another, it seemed endless, she thought they were all going to empty their magazines in her. It took less than a few seconds, and the impact sent Alyssa falling back and landing on her side with a thud.

Some strands of hair fell over her face, but she could still see the terrifying pool of blood spreading around her body, a clear indicator that it really happened, she was just shot multiple times and she was moments from death. At first, the pain was beyond anything she even imagined possible, her body was either extremely weak or paralyzed, because she couldn't even move a finger, then she considered she might have already died.

Within a few seconds, her vision grew increasingly blurry until it faded out completely and all she could see was black, but her hearing hadn't left her yet, she could still hear muffled sounds of the people moving. The next thing she heard was particularly bizarre, a sort of breathy hiss reached her ears and what little attention her dying brain had left was sparked when the sound was followed by a familiar gravelly low growl, similar to the noise she heard from the Walrider when she tried to get out of his grasp earlier.

A muffled voice that she recognized as Dr. Wernicke's spoke in German then English, the man sounded in complete disbelief and dread

"Gott in Himmel… You have become the host."

Almost immediately, the room was inundated by screams of terror, sounds of broken bones, ripped flesh, splattered blood, and weapons firing wildly. Among the chaos, Alyssa managed to distinguish a few words "What the fuck is that?!" "Jesus Christ, shoot it!" before her hearing failed her too, leaving her in silent darkness.

With her consciousness just hanging on by a thread about to break, she only managed the realization that the pain had almost completely vanished, but the reason why that was filled the spot of relief with the unbearable emotional pain: she was moments from death, real death this time, and there wasn't a thing in the world that could stop that.

As she feared, she didn't even have time to say her last goodbyes to her family again, but took comfort in the fact that she'd already done that when Walker had almost killed her minutes earlier, so with one last barely noticeable exhale, she succumbed to the darkness completely and lost consciousness.

The new human host had remained in the same spot motionless for a few hours, and what little patience the Walrider had left was wearing thin. Still, he reminded himself that he waited several decades to be free, he could wait a few more hours.

She was alive, he made sure of that immediately as he dispatched the other humans, but her body had suffered significant injuries. It was nothing he couldn't fix, though it would take some time, especially until the wounds were closed entirely. He watched her from a few feet away while his nanites crawled through her injuries and brought the tissues back together, regenerated organs and sealed severed veins.

The blood loss was the biggest problem, he put back the amount that hadn't become contaminated from the filthy floor, but a non-insignificant volume could not be returned, and he had no time nor patience to stand around and purify so much blood. She would wake up soon, but she would need a lot of liquids and rest until she'd be close to fully recovered. Earlier, he had visited his previous host Billy, and when the boy saw him, he couldn't tell if the human in the glass sphere was more angry or more scared for his life, with no way to protect himself anymore, but the fact that his annoying thoughts remained in his head alone was refreshing.

Now, he waited around the new host for her consciousness to return and finally leave the asylum, the silence slowing the drain of his patience. Glancing at the human, he decided to have a closer look at how she was doing, he crouched next to her and extended an arm to her face. His skeletal hand moved the blood soaked hair strands away from her face, and then he noticed her eyes moving behind her eyelids. She was dreaming, REM sleep. For a moment, he considered peeking and checking what she was seeing in her mind, but failed to find enough interest.

As it turned out though, he certainly made the right decision in searching and finding this human in time before she escaped or was killed, since she was indeed a matching host, but the fact that she wasn't stuck in a glass sphere on life support was the most important advantage. With the holes in her lungs healed, she was breathing easily and steadily again, her chest rising then dropping with each deep inhale and exhale. Suddenly, an unconscious whimper left her, and he noticed micro movements in her face along with her eyelids twitching. Finally, she was beginning to come back.

Alyssa was confused when she began feeling pain again, if there was some sort of afterlife that she had reached, she was very disappointed to notice the discomfort and pain in her body, she told herself that you weren't supposed to hurt when you were dead, it made no sense. More so, the pain was focused around her torso again, right around where she'd been shot multiple times.

Then, a pressure in her head grew and diminished in the span of several seconds, leaving a ringing sound inside her ears. The realization that another sense came back made her consider the shocking possibility that she could still be alive, and when she tensed her body to move, the pain hit her again, increasing her faith that she was indeed somehow alive.

With difficulty, she shut her eyes tighter, then attempted to lift her eyelids. They felt like they each weighed a ton, but after she eventually opened her eyes, her vision was very blurry, all she could see were blotches of white, red, and a large black shape in front of her. A small groan left her, and she began blinking in the hopes of clearing her vision. Somewhat surprisingly, it worked; slowly, the blur vanished gradually with each blink, but when she realized what was right next to her, she almost wished she hadn't woken up.

Unable to contain a short yelp, she scrambled away, but was only able to do so for about a foot until her back hit the wall. Both her breathing and heart pace picked up drastically as she stared at the Walrider crouched terrifyingly close to her, his skeletal hands hanging over his thighs.

The pain she felt upon moving her body so quickly was muffled by the shock and fear that took over when she saw him, but those feelings were somewhat decreased and confusion set in when she heard a deep, gravelly voice echo in her head.

 **_I'm not going to hurt you._ **

Her jaw dropped slightly, she knew it was the Walrider's voice, but not why or how she could hear it inside her own head. She took in a sharp breath when he suddenly rose to his feet and spoke, in the same voice, this time out loud

"We have to leave this place." In the next moment, he vanished into thin air, as if he was never there.

Alyssa barely registered the words and remained motionless, her gaze stuck in the place he used to be, still in a state of disbelief of what was happening. After some of the shock wore off, she glanced around and saw nothing to the right, but when she looked left, the room where the men that shot her were looked worse than a slaughterhouse. The gallons upon gallons of blood had spilled from inside it like a river and almost reached her own pool of blood, the sight reminded her of how she'd taken so many bullets to the torso and it puzzled her, being still alive seemed just impossible, yet there she was.

After gathering both physical strength to get up and emotional strength to check out her wounds, she slowly lifted her body off the floor and remained on her knees. With a deep breath, she started peeling up her blood soaked tank top and the discovery both horrified and confused her more.

Her abdomen was sprinkled with circular but mostly closed wounds, what made her frown, however, was the small amount of moving black substance inside each wound. A terrifying thought passed through her mind that it might be an infection, and she felt compelled to try to get it out of her flesh. Just as she began poking one wound, the Walrider's voice inside her head spooked her

 **_The nanobots are reconstructing your flesh. Don't touch them._ **

She gasped and quickly pulled her shirt down and looked around to see nothing, then glanced back down at her stomach. The understanding that there were machines inside her body deeply unsettled her, but then, suddenly, everything made sense, the Walrider had kept her alive and healed her wounds via the nanobots. What still remained a mystery though, was why. She didn't feel nearly safe enough to start questioning him, so she decided to leave it unanswered and try to get on her feet.

It wasn't easy, her limbs ached, her abdomen still hurt and she felt lightheaded, something she chalked up to the blood loss. When she thought about resuming her search for an exit, the dead men in the other room came to mind, she hoped they arrived underground via the elevator, so she headed off to check if it was indeed working again.

As she took one slow, somewhat painful step after another through the room where the soldiers were massacred, she reached the decontamination chamber and let out a long sigh while the doors slid closed and the gas began to flow in. During the wait, more of the shock was alleviated, and suddenly the Walrider's words came back to her, making her frown in confusion.

' _We have to get out of here'? We?.. What does.. Oh good god.._ As much as it unsettled her, she didn't want to dwell on it for the time being, she told herself to just be grateful that he didn't want to hurt her for whatever reasons and just get out of the asylum once and for all.

Walking down the halls, she once again became aware of a presence behind her, but this time, she had a feeling she knew who it had been the entire time. It put her nerves on a slight edge, but she reminded herself that if he wanted her dead, she would have been dead a long time ago. Before she headed for the elevator, she decided to check the room where she first found Dr. Wernicke, since it was only several meters off to the right, but found it empty, both doors still wide open.

With a light shrug, she continued the walk back to the elevator, she could not afford to spend more time on asylum grounds, whoever was left and in need of help was going to have to wait until she released the footage and the police stormed the building. Not that Dr. Wernicke, if he was still nearby, seemed innocent, she recalled how the soldiers fired upon her right after he spoke, it was obvious now that he really wanted her dead after she killed Billy, no loose ends.

After she finally reached the elevator, got in the cabin and pressed the up arrow button, Alyssa was overjoyed when it made a few heavy metallic noises then slowly began ascending. Her heart beat faster with anticipation and she almost started crying again, but for a change, it was out of relief that she was at least going to reach the surface again and be one step closer to escape. Before she got ahead of herself though, she remembered that she still needed to erase the surveillance footage of the asylum above if she wanted Murkoff to not track her down within hours.

Leaning against the elevator wall, she allowed her heavy eyelids to droop as she tried to deal with the fact that she could still feel the Walrider's presence, that time much closer, she assumed he must have been in the cabin with her, even though she couldn't see anything. As the elevator kept ascending, she had to make an effort to keep her eyes from tearing up, since the trip was bringing back the memories of when she made the same trip, but downwards, and all the ways she nearly died multiple times. The fact that she was really heading up to the surface seemed like a miracle, Alyssa didn't necessarily believe in guardian angels, but if there was any proof that someone was looking out for her, there it was, being alive after spending so much time crawling through and under the asylum then being on her way to freedom. It did feel like days had passed, she blamed that partly on the number of times she blacked out, plus the fact that without her phone, she had no way to know what time it was.

As the elevator finally reached the ground floor, it slowed to a halt and its gate opened, but when Alyssa saw the sight ahead and felt the warm sunlight on her face, her heart almost burst with joy. From where she stood, she could see above the tall reception desk ahead the top of the main entrance of the asylum, and almost couldn't believe her eyes, the doors were wide open, allowing the soft sunrise light to flood the lobby. She couldn't keep her eyes from watering and a smile formed on her face, she was so tempted to run straight out, but she promised herself she would do just that right after she wiped the surveillance footage.

With no time wasted, she rushed down the hallway to the left as fast as her weakened and injured body could take her, remembering where Steele had told her what felt like an eternity ago that the security control room was. When she reached it, she felt even more delighted to see that the door was torn off its hinges and rested on the floor.

Dashing to the console, her trembling fingers reached for the buttons and began working on getting over the last obstacle holding her captive. As she typed away, her mind was already daydreaming about finishing the job, running out of the asylum, then finding her car and driving away and home to edit her footage and bring it to the police. She told herself that only after she put the evidence safely in the hands of the law was she going to allow herself the medical care and rest she desperately needed.

However, as she kept trying to erase the video evidence of her own presence in the asylum, her daydreaming was gradually subsiding and being replaced with deep concern when she couldn't get past security, it wouldn't allow her to delete a single shred of data no matter how she tried to avoid or fool the system.

"Shit!" She cursed and slammed her fist down on the console, shaking her head in dismay. This couldn't be happening, she was just seconds away from the wide open doors, yet she couldn't leave.

After a quick brainstorm, an idea she wasn't a big fan of at first came to mind, but she realized she had no other choice, it was either that or leave herself on tape for Murkoff to see and find with little to no effort. She reached for the closest place she hoped to find a hard object, which was the two lockers on the side of the room.

Disappointment and a sense of urgency hit her when she only found a coat in the first one, but a huge sigh of relief escaped her lips after opening the second one and noticing the box of tools at the bottom. Rummaging through it, she reached for a hammer, but on second thought she decided on a longer crowbar.

Without a moment wasted, she took the crowbar to the console and began hitting it with all the little strength she had left in her body. The keyboard, the computer, every button she could see and all the monitors were smashed to bits by the time she was done. After a few heavy breaths, Alyssa whispered "Trace this, motherfuckers.." then dropped the crowbar to the floor with a clang.

Feeling like a ton of weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she exited the control room and began walking right, down the hallway. At that point, she could almost taste the freedom, her smile had returned as she dragged her exhausted legs forward. In the next moment, her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened in shock when she heard a dreadfully familiar voice speak loudly from behind

"Heeey, finally we meet again, pussycat. Where you been? We got unfinished business you and I, ain't we now?"

She swallowed and slowed to a halt, even if she still had the strength to run, she was sure she wouldn't be able to be fast enough. Turning around, her fears were confirmed when she saw a silhouette step out of the shadows and reveal Steele's smirking mug, walking towards her casually.

Alyssa bit her lip to stop it from quivering, the situation had to be the sickest joke the universe had ever played on her. There she was, with the wide open exit just past the corner, after erasing the video evidence of her presence in the asylum, about to leave with her own highly incriminating evidence of Murkoff, and then the man she had to risk getting her head ripped off by Walker in order to escape returned.

Her legs quivered slightly and felt like they were about to fail her when he spoke again "Damn, you look a lot messier than before, hope none of the other fuckers got to you first, eh, I love me some fresh mea-"

Alyssa blinked in confusion and took a step back when Steele's entire demeanor suddenly changed on the spot. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened, and the smirk on his face was immediately dropped then replaced with a mixed expression of anger, frustration and noticeable fear. From her distance, she could barely hear him mumble "Fucking hell.." then her jaw dropped slightly when he swiftly turned around and ran back the way he came from extremely fast.

She watched in bewilderment as he sprinted out of sight, then took a step back and began turning back around to continue on her way outside, counting her blessings. She didn't want to question it much, the man had some loose screws, after all, she assumed his own mental issues were to blame for his strange behavior, but when she turned back and saw the Walrider towering over her just inches away, she couldn't contain a short high pitched scream as she scrambled away from him, barely managing to maintain her balance.

Steele's abrupt change of demeanor suddenly made all the sense, and she placed a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. When she gazed up at him, he seemed to be looking back at her, and even though she doubted he cared for civility, she still spoke gently while trying to keep her voice from quivering

"Thank you.."

In return, he didn't say a word, either out loud or in her head, only signaled with a slight head motion to the left for her to go. With no intention of disobeying even if she wasn't already planning on going that way, she continued down the hallway.


	12. Chapter 12

Peeking past the corner to the lobby, Alyssa was surprised to see a man dressed in a dirty cream jumpsuit limping towards the door, however, even though his clothes resembled something a patient would wear, his head wasn't shaved like all the patients were. At first, she felt hesitant to approach him, until he suddenly fell to the floor over some broken glass, grunting in pain and unsuccessfully attempting to get up.

Feeling sorry for him, she convinced herself to cautiously walk towards him, the fact that he seemed both injured and looked somewhat different than the other patients helped her come to her decision.

"Uh.. excuse me?" she said reluctantly, not wanting to startle him, just in case, but he still quickly turned to look at her with a spooked and frightened expression on his face.

The man shook his head and tried to get up on his feet again "Listen, I don't know who you are, but don't try to stop me, I gotta get the hell out of here." As he stood up however, she noticed he reached for a grey camcorder on the floor next to him, and her eyes lit up

"I'm not going to get in your way but, what's with the camcorder? You're not really a patient, are you?" The man eyed her suspiciously before he noticed she had a similar device herself attached to her belt

"No.. at least not of my own accord, been forced into this a few days ago. I could ask you the same thing, though. You're not Murkoff, are you?"

A relieved exhale left Alyssa, knowing that she wasn't dealing with another asylum patient

"No, I'm.. heh, I guess I'm a suicidal fool who wants to do too much good for her own sake. I came here yesterday and recorded a lot of incriminating evidence against Murkoff, most probably to take straight to the cops. Been trying to find a way out ever since."

The man placed his hand on the side of his abdomen where his clothes were stained with blood and let out a sigh of relief as well.

"Thank god, last thing I need is more Murkoff when I'm halfway dead." An awkward moment took place when he had a better look at her and noticed how she was bandaged, cut, bruised and bloodied, then he continued "I see I'm not the only one.. Anyway, I've been gathering evidence on Murkoff too, long story, we gotta get the hell outta here fast, before more of their thugs show up."

Alyssa nodded with enthusiasm and began heading towards the door, but when she watched the man follow, it was clear that the blood on his pants wasn't just for show, his leg really must have been injured, as he began limping towards the exit again. She felt bad for him, so she decided to offer what little physical support she could

"You need a hand?"

The man shook his head and leaned against the door frame "No, at least not now, but we're still in deep shit, the only vehicles here are those merc trucks, trying to hijack one of those is a bad idea, and we're in the middle of nowhere."

Alyssa couldn't have been happier that she had placed her car keys in her pant pocket instead of her jacket, as she took them out and jingled them before speaking cheerfully

"Got us covered!"

The man grinned briefly and was noticeably relieved, then wiped some sweat off his face "You're a damn life saver, come on, lead us to it."

She nodded and couldn't take the smile off her face as they began walking down the courtyard and towards the gates. It was a small pleasant surprise that they were both open, but she was far too excited and happy to be finally out of the asylum and heading to her car to give it much notice, how she longed for the moment so many times while she was running and hiding for her life, it was a dream come true.

They slowly dragged their weakened and injured legs past the courtyard and out the gates, then Alyssa pointed vaguely to the left side of the road some distance away "Over there, I kinda hid my car, if someone found it and it was taken away.."

When she didn't want to continue, the man interjected "Then we would've probably gotten eaten by fucking wolves if we tried going on foot." She laughed nervously, he didn't appear the optimistic type. Much to their relief, when they approached and navigated through the tall grass, the dark grey Audi A5 was still there, untouched. Alyssa unlocked the car doors then shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut briefly before speaking

"Uh, listen.. I've had no sleep and I've been mentally roasted, I can drive my car well under normal circumstances, but right now.. i-if I take the wheel, I'm afraid I can't guarantee our safety on the road."

With a nod, the man limped to the driver's side and dropped himself on the seat

"Can't complain, considering I'd be stranded here if it wasn't for you."

She offered a short smile before dragging herself to the passenger seat and they both slammed the doors shut.

She handed the man the keys, which he stuck in the ignition, but then paused. Alyssa wanted to ask what was wrong, then she noticed the concerned expression on his face when he looked down at his blood stained clothes then at hers.

"Oh.. yeah. We could attract some attention on the road.. The windows are somewhat tinted, let's keep them up and pray?"

He mumbled a "Shit" before starting the engine. As the car turned and began heading down the road away from the asylum, Alyssa leaned back and let out the most relieved sigh yet, even though her problems were far from resolved, as she still had to edit her footage, take it to the police, and hope that she had more than a few days to live until Murkoff found her. The most unsettling thing, however, was the presence of the Walrider that she could feel right behind her, but when she glanced in the rear view mirror, as expected, nothing was there.

Before her mind started to race with concerns about what the entity's presence even after she left the asylum could mean, the man's voice interrupted

"I'm Waylon, by the way, Waylon Park. I know it sounds bad but, I used to work at Mount Massive."

Upon hearing that, Alyssa's guard rose somewhat quickly, but she needed to know more before she made further judgements

"Then.. how did you end up like this? You said you were forced to be a patient? What happened in that asylum?"

Waylon let out a short sigh but kept his eyes on the road

"I wanna make this very clear, I'm _not_ a bad guy, I'm not one of them, I was just a software engineer with a level three security clearance, worked in the underground labs, but they only brought me on the scene, at the Morphogenic Engine, when they needed me. I saw the shit they were doing to people, I couldn't stay quiet anymore, so I blew the whistle on Murkoff, sent classified info to independent journalists and hoped someone would come investigate and I won't be found. As you can probably tell by looking at me, I had no such luck, the bastards found out what I did just hours later, strapped me to a chair and tried to brainwash me with that.. that weird disturbing shit."

Alyssa's guard lowered as she watched him speak, he did seem sincere and scared, then his following questions somewhat surprised her

"Just what the fuck is Project Walrider? They made me work on it but everything was so compartmentalized I had no clue what the real deal was. Did you see something in the asylum, what did you get on film?"

Before she told him what she knew, she decided to first see what else he knew

"I.. saw and recorded a lot of dead people. Not just killed by patients or guards, but people torn up and ripped apart.." She noticed Waylon trying to conceal a shudder but mostly fail as he recalled similar sights

"I saw the same, I know _something_ was.. fucking people up, there were body parts everywhere, I don't know what did it, but I know it has to do with Project Walrider."

Alyssa bit her lip and leaned her head on the window before speaking

"I'm not sure what the Project was about but.. I think I know what the Walrider is."

Immediately, Waylon turned to her with a questioning frown on his face. She swallowed before continuing and signaled to keep his focus on the road

"A swarm. Of.. nano-robots. And.. please don't crash us into a tree when you hear this, but I'm pretty sure he's in the back seat.."

The car suddenly swerved slightly as Waylon's hands shook on the steering wheel and he threw a panicked glance behind while whispering "What the f.." but relaxed somewhat when he saw nothing and stabilized the car.

"I know, I know! Don't worry, I-I think it's safe to say that if he wanted us dead, we'd be in pieces by now, relax." Just to be safe in any case and avoid attracting potential police attention once they reached civilization, Alyssa secured her seat belt in place.

Waylon still sounded unsettled "Jesus fucking Christ, are you really saying whatever was ripping people to shreds in Mount Massive is following us now?!"

Alyssa rose a hand to her chest defensively and tried to speak gently "I know it sounds crazy, but he actually saved my life from a huge guy that was about to literally rip my head off my shoulders! And then.. he didn't hurt me. I don't know why, but like I said, pretty sure we're safe since we're still in one piece.."

At that, Waylon gave her a brief frown but then noticeably relaxed in his seat, failing to see any threat. Before he said anything, she remembered she never shared her name with him

"I'm Alyssa Fox, by the way.."

The man nodded and asked, more calm and stable "Pleased to meet someone else who went through hell to put those bastards at Murkoff in prison where they belong. Does your family live nearby?" The question took her off guard, it was a bitter reminder of how far her family was and how in danger they would be if she was identified by Murkoff.

"No.. they don't. It's fine, you can drive yourself home, then I'll see what I can do about getting my evidence out and trying to not get disappeared when they start looking for me, you need to be careful too."

Waylon blinked and gave her a quick look "Wait, we both got evidence on them, they're gonna try to track us down, don't you think we might as well stick together? My family and I don't live far, we can go to my place to get the videos out then we gotta get off the radar."

She had to admit, it seemed like a good idea, and she preferred to at least not be alone if she had to go on the run. "I.. Sounds good, actually, but shouldn't we go to the police?"

"Hell no, police chiefs can be bribed or threatened by corporate thugs, they'll never guarantee our safety, trust me, the last thing we want is our names on record after we whistleblew on Murkoff, it would be a death sentence."

Alyssa sighed in defeat, she was afraid of that, it was a possibility in the back of her mind that she preferred to think was unlikely, because she had nothing and no one else to turn to, but thinking about it rationally now, it was pretty obvious that they couldn't put their safety in the hands of the police when it came to something as big as this.

As the drive out of the mountains went on, they continued sharing information about what they both found inside the asylum, their families, and any hopeful plans of keeping out of sight and out of Murkoff's reach. When Alyssa kept glancing behind once in a while, Waylon interjected

"What are you looking for? You couldn't possibly miss the asylum."

She laughed nervously and shook her head "That's probably the second last building I ever want to see, next to a Murkoff HQ."

After a few silent minutes, a bizarre and somewhat scary thought came to Alyssa's mind.

 _If I can hear him in my head.. does that mean he can read my mind?_ Her eyes darted to the rear view mirror again and watched the empty space on the back seat where she felt the presence then frowned slightly. The idea seemed crazy, and the possibility of getting positive results chilled her, but she was too curious, she felt she had to try it at least once.

She bit her lip in anticipation, then tried to speak clear in her mind. _Can.. can you hear me?.._ A quiet minute passed, and she got nothing in response, not a thought that she couldn't identify as her own. Besides the relief, she couldn't explain why she felt a tiny sliver of disappointment. Slowly, her thoughts drifted back to the dire situation they were in, and she abruptly asked

"We're not going to last, are we? Murkoff will find all of us.."

Waylon seemed taken off guard by her sudden question and pessimism, but he sounded confident in his answer

"That's not gonna happen, with the evidence you said you got and what I filmed, Murkoff's as good as ruined once we make it public. There's no amount of dirty money and corrupt judges they can pull to get themselves out of this ditch. We'll make it, we have to."

His words lifted Alyssa's spirits somewhat, they made sense, and she wanted to fully believe them, but she still had doubts, she wasn't sure how reasonable they were, but they were there.

Earlier, Waylon had told her about his family, and the fact that he was a loving family man who saw injustice in the world and couldn't stay quiet and let it go on increased Alyssa's trust in him. It was kind of a blessing, in a way, to find someone trustworthy and in a very similar situation to herself, she didn't want to think of it as 'misery likes company' because it seemed very cruel since he had an innocent wife and children, it was just more comfortable to not be alone and it wasn't unlikely that their chances to stay alive were increased if they were a team.

Their relaxed mood started to diminish as they were beginning to reach the end of the deserted mountain area and got on a main road, Alyssa hoped no one would catch a clear glimpse inside the car when they had to stop at a red light, since if someone caught sight of them, it would immediately raise red flags, as they both looked like they ran away from a horror movie set.

As they drove over a railroad and approached the small town of Leadville where Waylon lived, however, Alyssa couldn't suppress a slight sense of relief and perhaps naive safety, she was glad to be out of the mountains and back to civilization again, she figured that with people around, it would at least be harder for Murkoff's thugs to kidnap and disappear them if they found them.

Driving past a convenience store, she was reminded of how hungry she was when her stomach suddenly growled loudly. A little embarrassed, she placed her hand over her abdomen, careful not to poke any of the still healing bullet wounds. Waylon chuckled briefly then spoke with a slight smile

"We'll all have breakfast in a bit, the least I can do after you didn't leave me stranded."

Alyssa smiled back with a light blush "Thank you, running for your life an entire night tends to make you hungry." Her expression got more serious, though, as she asked "Anyway.. have you thought about how you're going to explain everything to your wife Lisa? She might become a bit scared when she sees her husband come home bruised and bloodied with a woman drenched in blood. And your children.."

Waylon waved a hand dismissively "Don't worry about it, the boys should still be asleep, and I'll give her a quick explanation so she doesn't freak out, then we'll discuss the details."

She nodded, and hoped Lisa would be understanding and supportive of her husband, no one needed arguments, splitting up seemed extremely dangerous for his family, since Murkoff knew who Waylon was and that he tried to expose them.

"Here we are." Waylon said as they pulled up the driveway of a white two-story house. The garage door opened as they approached and he parked the car inside, then stepped out only after the door closed back, they did not need any neighbors to catch sight of them.

Exiting the car too, Alyssa leaned on the hood as she walked around it, and after Waylon through the door on the left, who whispered as they stepped down a corridor on clean hardwood floor

"I don't know if Lisa's awake either, actually, could you wait in the kitchen for a minute? Have a seat, I'll go check the bedroom upstairs and try to break it to her easily." He signaled to an open door on the left leading into the kitchen, and Alyssa whispered back

"Sure, careful on the stairs with that leg of yours."

The man nodded and she watched sympathetically as he limped up the stairs, leaning on the hand rail, she knew far too well what it was like to have a busted leg.

Turning and walking through the indicated doorway, she found herself in a kitchen, outfitted with all the necessary equipment, including a marble table with a few chairs. Everything was so white and pristine she was afraid of accidentally leaving blood stains, but as rude as that would be, she was so tired she didn't know how much longer her legs could support her, so after trying to make sure there was no blood on her butt, she pulled a chair and sat down.

As a few quiet minutes passed, she hoped no child was suddenly going to run down the stairs and see her, since the poor thing might think they saw a ghost or a zombie and get scared. However, the thought brought with it a terrifying one, and this time she didn't try to do anything in her mind, she only whispered

"Walrider?.."

She looked around and saw nothing, but she knew he was near, his presence hadn't vanished ever since the strange event in the underground lab back at the asylum. After a few seconds, she nearly jumped when she heard his voice, it wasn't in her head, and it sounded just a few inches to her left

"What is it, human?"

Looking up, she saw nothing, unsurprisingly, but her heart still thumped harder than usual

"I just want to ask you… please don't hurt anyone here?" she braced herself for what might come, in her mind, it wasn't unlikely that he would kill her right there and then if she did the slightest thing wrong. In the next moment, she didn't understand why or how, but she could feel that he became slightly angry, in a way, somewhat annoyed. Her heart beat faster and she prepared for the worst, then he spoke slowly

"You assume I waste my time on humans who are no threat to you."

She blinked in both surprise and confusion, considering that she might have offended him somehow

"N-no, sorry, I just-"

 ** _Be quiet._** His voice in her head took her off guard, but she understood why he did it when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Alyssa turned to the doorway as Waylon and his wife Lisa walked in, the green eyed woman wore a mauve silk robe and her dark shoulder-length hair was loose and somewhat curly; she was holding her husband's arm to help him walk, then gasped and her eyes widened when she spotted the bloodied and injured woman.

"I told you we're both in bad condition, come on, sit down." Waylon spoke as he limped towards the chair opposite of Alyssa and placed a laptop and cable he brought from upstairs on the table. Lisa followed him with some hesitation and sat next to him.

"Sorry for scaring you, I assume Mr. Park gave you the short version of the story?" Alyssa glanced at Lisa, who seemed understandably unsettled, while her husband opened the laptop and connected his camcorder to the device.

"It's fine.. Yeah, I was afraid of this for a long time. I told him it's too dangerous and to mind his own business, but now, the things he said he filmed.." The woman placed her fingers on her temple and shook her head slightly, then turned to Waylon, who was buttoning the laptop's keyboard

"Alyssa, I'm transferring my video. Listen, I say give me your footage, we mix them both up, take out the unnecessary parts, blur out any risky parts and alter our voices, then release it as one anonymous video. That way it will appear like there's only one of us, what do you think?"

Alyssa thought for a few moments, then nodded in agreement "That's actually not a bad idea, the more we can deceive them, the better." She handed her camcorder to Waylon who connected it to the laptop after his own file copied and began transferring the footage.

Lisa sighed softly, noticeably concerned, then glanced towards the doorway before speaking "Alyssa, was it? You should take a shower and get out of those blood soaked clothes, the children are going to wake up for school soon, I don't want them to get scared."

Alyssa nodded quickly but Waylon spoke before she could "No school anymore, way too dangerous, go turn off their alarm clocks." His tone was very serious and focused, he only signaled her with a head movement to go. Lisa frowned slightly, but understood, and glanced at Alyssa before leaving the room

"We have a guest bedroom, I'll get something for you to wear and leave it there" In response, she gave a small smile and a "Thank you."

A few quiet moments later, Waylon spoke rather hesitantly "I hope you don't mind me asking.. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I'm just wondering because you still seem.. not _too_ traumatized, but.. As far as I know, there are no female patients at Mount Massive anymore, there's only men. That, and I skipped through your video and saw when they caught that doctor woman.. How did.. I mean, did they, did you.."

She glanced at the man briefly before she understood the unsaid question, some blood rose to her face as the scary and embarrassing memories came back to mind "Oh! No, I-I escaped. I had a very close call myself, but I was really lucky."

Waylon nodded quickly and continued working on the laptop, a bit uncomfortable himself "Oh, alright, good, good for you, thank god."

After some awkward silence, Alyssa asked semi-jokingly and tried not to sound too intrusive "Don't mind me asking either, but are those the only wounds you got while trying to escape? Because I might be a bit envious."

A fast exhale left the man and he answered back, semi-seriously "Yeah, this, plus nearly getting castrated with a rusty circular saw while being strapped to a table." He noticed the girl's eyes widen in shock but spoke before she could "So you really don't know how you survived after being shot like that?"

Alyssa shrugged "I really can't say for sure, but my guess is that the.. swarm, has something to do with it." His expression grew somewhat concerned, but before he could say anything, Lisa returned and sat back next to him.

Waylon leaned his head in his hand then rubbed his temple, his eyes struggling to remain fully open "Got it all. Now to edit it.."

Alyssa bit her lip lightly, it was clear to her how exhausted the man was "I guess we really have to do it right now, huh?"

His answer was quick "Definitely. The more we wait, the more risky it is for us." A sigh escaped his lips before he continued, looking her in the eyes with sincerity "Look, I have to be completely honest and clear if I wasn't already: Murkoff knows I tried to expose them, after this video goes up, I'll be the first one they'll start looking for, do you understand? They took my car parked at the asylum so now we only have yours, so I really appreciate your help, but if you stay with us, you're going to put yourself in even more danger."

By the time he finished, however, he was a bit confused, as Alyssa was already slightly smiling "Don't worry, I fully understand, but I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time until I'm found as well. I left behind some evidence, I can't say for sure, but it's likely that something like Murkoff would be able to track it, sooner or later. And while I did delete the security camera footage, I honestly don't know if they had copies on different networks.."

The man gave her an almost sad look, even though they weren't trapped in the asylum anymore, it still felt like the walls were closing in on them. Lisa stared at nothing, thoughtful and with a concerned look on her face, but when she tried to glance at the video, Waylon slid the laptop's screen halfway closed, he did not want her to see the gruesome footage he was editing, then spoke to both women

"Alright then, listen, we don't have much time until Murkoff get their shit together after Mount Massive, maybe two days tops. We need to pack our bags soon, erase any trace of us here and leave. Honey, like I said, we don't have the car anymore, but Alyssa does, we'll all take it and go to our vacation home in Texas and stop there until we figure out where to go next."

Lisa just nodded, and Alyssa blinked in surprise, he seemed to have had some planning made up beforehand. When Waylon rubbed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to keep himself more alert, Lisa spoke softly

"Do you want me to help with that?"

He slid the laptop's screen back up but turned it away from his wife so she couldn't see it

"No, no, I told you what's on it, you don't have to see the fucked up details for yourself, just get me a glass of water please." The woman placed her hand on his shoulder affectionately then stood up and walked to the fridge.

She returned with two tall glasses of cold crystal clear water, handing one to her husband and one to Alyssa

"Oh, thanks." She took the glass and drank, the water feeling like much needed and refreshing fuel to her body.

Waylon interjected as he finished his glass "We're both starving though, let's have some breakfast, honey?"

Lisa nodded and returned to the refrigerator before speaking "So this is really happening, huh.. I guess it was only a matter of time, Waylon was distrustful of his bosses at work for a long time, the things he said he saw, what they were doing to people.. Are you sure you don't need to take care of those wounds right now, dear?"

She glanced at Waylon, who remained quiet for a few moments, focused on his work, then finally answered "It's not bleeding anymore, I'll look at it after." To this, Lisa turned her glance to the other woman, asking her the same question silently. Alyssa gently touched her abdomen, which still hurt, but not as much, at that point it was more tingling than pain, and answered in a polite tone

"Actually I think my wounds are going to heal fine, thank you."

The woman gave her a confused blink, but started making breakfast.

A heavy sigh was heard from Waylon, who stretched his back and spoke in an understandably exhausted tone "Holy shit, I would sleep for days if I wasn't worried about Murkoff knocking on our door.."

Alyssa smiled sympathetically "Heh, I couldn't agree more. But please, let me help you with that video?"

Waylon shook his head, then squeezed his eyes shut briefly "It's alright, I'll just get it done, have you check it out and then upload it."

She nodded, her glance turning to the window, the sun had almost fully rose, warm rays flooded the kitchen and brightened the pristine room even more, but as calming as the sight was, Alyssa's worries were far from alleviated.

 _So this is it.. we're going to upload the video and show the whole world the vile crap Murkoff was doing to helpless people behind closed doors.. God, I just hope it will ruin them before they find us. But.._

Her gaze went to Waylon, who was quietly working on the laptop "Mr. Park.. What if they get away, though?"

The man's eyes rose from the computer and gave her a questioning look "If you mean they're gonna start buying and threatening judges left and right until the ones at the top of Murkoff flee the country.." Alyssa swallowed and nodded, a frown growing on her face, which deepened as she heard the man's next words "Then I'm afraid to say it's not unlikely. They'll try it, for sure, if our evidence is solid enough, which, judging by the stuff in this video, it sure as shit is, then no amount of money is gonna buy their freedom. The bastards will try to run once they see there's no other way out."

Alyssa sighed painfully and rested her head on her hand, leaning over the table "Well.. at least the victims will be rescued, but it's a shame the perpetrators can get away with it."

Waylon waved a hand dismissively "Don't get so down about it, I said they'll try, who knows if and how many will actually get away. But yeah, the most important thing is that they'll be exposed and they won't be able to continue those experiments on people."

Even though she definitely agreed, Alyssa couldn't let go of how outrageously unfair it would be for Murkoff's higher-ups to get away with it, after they made the people below them carry out the dirty work. Granted, those people weren't innocent either, and most of them would see long prison sentences, but still, it was the people at the top of the pyramid that were the most responsible.

Once again, her thoughts were interrupted, but that time by the mouth-watering smell of eggs and bacon being cooked, she hoped her stomach wasn't going to growl loudly again and embarrass her, which, to some relief, it hadn't.

When Lisa brought out the plates and glasses, finished cooking breakfast and served it, Alyssa washed her hands and tried to eat slowly, both because it wasn't healthy to eat fast, but mostly because it would seem rather rude and uncivilized to start stuffing her face in front of people she just met at their table. Waylon didn't seem to care much about that, however, as he started eating somewhat messily with one hand while still working on the laptop with the other.

Lisa smiled slightly and paused eating to speak "Honey, just don't spill that orange juice glass over the laptop.." He paused briefly too and threw a glance at the glass in question

"Since when do we drink freakin' orange juice, where's the coff..oh, right. I'm gonna crash in a few minutes, last thing I want is coffee. Will you show Alyssa the guest bedroom afterwards?" Lisa nodded and glanced to the doorway, it wouldn't be a big deal if the kids walked in at that time, but it was better that they hadn't, she could cook them breakfast after they woke up, and after their injured father and the girl covered in blood were out of sight, they didn't need to get scared and worry about it.

As they ate, they got somewhat better acquainted, shared details about the situation they were in and their families, along with thoughts and ideas to possibly increase their chances of remaining undiscovered. Alyssa had to admit to herself she was glad to have come across Waylon when she did and decide to stick together, she understood Murkoff were going to go after him, but she was in a very similar boat herself, and while Murkoff didn't know who she was, or at least so she hoped, the thought that they might have backups of the security camera footage kept creeping to the surface.

At the asylum, she tried her best to deny it and not think about it, partly because she found it unlikely, but mostly because if it was true, there was nothing she could do about it, and the possibility of videos of herself roaming through the asylum with a camcorder still existing on some remote server terrified her. A long sigh escaped her lips, and she told herself there was no point in freaking out about a suspicion, since she was unable to do anything about it even back at the asylum.

So she mentally returned to her delicious breakfast, the uncomfortable empty feeling in her stomach had completely subsided as it was filled with food that she hadn't thought she'd survive to taste again. Its effect was certainly noticeable, she felt some of her strength return, but she still really needed sleep, her eyelids were beginning to feel heavier.

By the time they finished breakfast, Waylon also finished editing the footage as well, and handed the laptop over to Alyssa to check out the video. She scrolled through it, somewhat hesitant to see the unpleasant memories, but pleased to see that he had censored the shots of people's faces, heavily altered voices, and took out the parts where the filming person's body came into shot, along with the unnecessary parts where nothing was happening. He did, however, keep the transitions that showed the locations, so it would be as clear as possible that the events were happening inside the Mount Massive asylum, and most importantly, all the gruesome scenes.

"Alright then, I'm gonna put it online, then get these wounds patched up and crash to bed. You sure you don't need any help with yours?" Waylon spoke as she returned the laptop.

"I believe so, I need to check how my wounds are, I'll let you know if there's anything."

He turned to Lisa "Honey, can you show her to the guest bedroom? Then bring that first-aid kit down." Lisa nodded and signaled Alyssa to follow as they stood up, a task slightly difficult for the injured woman, some pain emerged from her right thigh and her abdomen hurt when she flexed her muscles, but she walked after Lisa slowly, after picking up her camcorder.

Up the stairs, she leaned on the handrail to make it easier for her leg, the mild struggle bringing back the memories of both the physical and emotional pain, which she tried to push away and focus on the present. Judging by the throb in her thigh, it was obvious that by then, some if not all of the painkiller effect was gone, she didn't look forward to taking off her bandage and seeing the state her deep wound was in, but she had to get it clean.

At the top of the stairs, she was met with a corridor and a few doors on the sides, as they walked ahead, Lisa pointed to one semi-open door on the left, then the next closed one

"Right, so, here's the bathroom, get yourself cleaned up, take a shower, or bath, and.. I don't know if we can salvage that tank top, you can put it in the laundry with the rest of your clothes but I don't think the blood will come out properly, not to mention those holes.. And over there is the guest bedroom, the key is in the door so you can lock yourself in case you feel paranoid, after, well, after what you and Waylon have been through in that place. And I put the clothes on the bed, I hope you don't mind them because I just grabbed the closest things, didn't rummage through the wardrobe. Anything else?"

Alyssa smiled gratefully "Oh, nope, thanks, thank you very much for everything." The woman gave a short smile too before she spoke and turned to leave

"Don't mention it, whether we like it or not, we're in this mess together now, and we've got no car but yours anyway. Lock the bathroom door if you want and take your time, I'll tell the kids to use the downstairs one." She nodded and thanked the woman again, then walked in the bathroom, locked herself in and sighed softly as she leaned against the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Inside, it was mildly spacious and unsurprisingly clean, with mostly white and cyan tiles; after she put her camcorder and phone on top of the washing machine, she placed the cover on the toilet, sat on it as a chair, and began taking off her boots. Even though they weren't tight, it felt like a huge relief to get them off, the lack of pressure on her feet already felt relaxing, she could hardly wait to take a shower. Before she took off her top, however, she paused, and glanced around the room suspiciously, she could still feel the presence of the Walrider, but she couldn't tell where he was, if he was in the room or not.

A few moments later, she shook her head slightly and peeled her tank top off. It was quite painful, as some of the blood had dried, stuck to her skin, her muscles ached, and judging by the numerous bullet holes and how soaked the blood was in the material, she had no hope of salvaging it, she tossed it in the trash bin. Glancing at her abdomen, she was surprised to see the wounds were a lot more closed than the last time she saw them, and they had stopped bleeding completely.

 _Guess I shouldn't be so shocked, I knew nanobots can be used to heal damaged tissue.. But to see it happen on yourself, that's something else._

Standing up slowly, she took her shorts off and placed them in the laundry bin. She cringed when she saw her torn up panties, tried to block the frightening memory of the way they ended up like that, and put them in the trash over her shirt.

 _That bastard was so close.. Can hardly believe I have Walker to thank for giving me a way out._ Thinking of Walker proved to be a bad idea, she shuddered as she recalled the way she was showered in his blood when he was brutally torn apart by the mysterious swarm.

After placing her bra and socks in the laundry bin, it was time to undo the bandages on her thigh, so she braced herself. Sitting on the edge of the toilet, she began unsticking the medical adhesive tape, which was so glued to her skin that it stung when she peeled it off. Taking her time due to how uncomfortable it was, she slowly finished unsticking it, then began unwrapping the bandages themselves.

The decreasing pressure around her thigh felt relieving, but at the same time, she was scared the wound was going to bleed profusely again once she uncovered it. As she continued unwrapping, the grim memories of Dr. Meyer and what happened to her intruded in her mind almost by themselves. She couldn't help but wonder if the woman was still alive, and if she was, if the police were going to arrive in time to help her, and even more so, if they did, what physical condition would she be in, and what mental and emotional condition would she be in, if she would even be able to return to living a normal life. Alyssa sighed softly, hoping for the best, the woman deserved a second chance, at least in her opinion.

When she finally finished removing the bloody bandages, she was quite shocked to see the wound wasn't bleeding at all anymore. It still hurt when she put weight on that leg, but she was very grateful at the lack of blood. A part of her wanted to thank the Walrider, as she was well aware there was no way such a deep wound could heal by itself to the point that it stopped bleeding in such a short period of time, but she needed to be alone for a while, and she sure hoped she was indeed alone.

After placing the bloody bandages in the trash bin, she walked up to the shower cabin and carefully stepped inside. She made sure to turn the pressure down, as she didn't want a hard jet of water to blast her wounds, then turned the warm water on. The moment it hit her skin, she jolted and gasped, it felt cold for a second, then quickly turned hot, but not uncomfortably so. The surprise was quickly replaced by the much needed feeling of relaxation as the water began flowing down her body and she leaned her head back.

For once, her sigh was out of pleasure, and it was accompanied by a smile, how she longed for this moment while she was dragging her body through filthy sewers and blood, blood which she began cleaning off her skin, but in some parts it took some scrubbing to remove, as it was somewhat layered on and dried up. She cringed when she gently dragged the soft loofah over her abdomen, her wounds stung at the contact with water and soap, but she took the time to clean her skin properly.

A few minutes later, however, the combination of the hot steamy water that relaxed her muscles, the tingling in them, along with the pain in her thigh and the overall exhausted condition of her body, all made it increasingly difficult to stand up in the cabin. It was a bit frustrating, but a rather quality problem to have, considering the hell she was trapped in not long ago, so she decided to just lean against the wall of the cabin for support while she finished getting the blood off. By the time she was done with that, her fingertips and toes skin was beginning to prune up, so she brought her hair over her shoulder and began soaking it up.

As the water rinsed it, she glanced down and watched the blood and dirt flowing out of it and spiraling down the drain. It was relieving in different ways, the cleanliness definitely felt good, but seeing the filth wash away cemented the reality that she really made it out of the asylum, how she grew increasingly desperate and hopeless to escape while she was there, and how grateful she was that she miraculously beat the odds and found herself here, in relative safety, washing away the stains of her suffering.

As much as it hurt to recall, however, she knew her suffering was far from over, but tried to take comfort in the positive things she had on her side, the very incriminating video evidence that she guessed Waylon must have uploaded to the internet by then, the fact that she wasn't alone in this, and the fact that she did her best to erase her tracks in the asylum.

Trying to cheer herself back up, she dismissed the pessimistic thoughts, shampooed her hair and dropped the water temperature slightly, a bit worried that the steam might make her feel dizzy soon. As she massaged her scalp and hair, her thoughts drifted to the Walrider, she had so many questions for him, but she was scared to even look at him, let alone start interrogating him. The way he killed people gave her chills, but even worse so, she had a feeling he was capable of much more horrific and painful destruction, since nanites could be used not only to put tissue together but also to tear it apart at the microscopic level. With a small shudder, she tried to shake away the terrifying thoughts, and soon rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.

After gently squeezing the water out of it, she slid the cabin door open and slightly shivered when she was met with the cold-by-comparison air of the bathroom. Reaching for the towel rack, she dried her hair up with one, then her skin with another and wrapped it around her body. It was uncomfortably short, barely stretching from above her nipples to below her butt, but just a few feet from that room to the next, it had to do.

Picking up her camcorder and phone then peeking out the door, she was relieved to see no one, so she quickly walked to the guest bedroom, only now when she was barefoot she noticed the pleasant feeling of the glossy hardwood floor partially covered by long soft carpets down the corridor. Stepping in the guest bedroom, she locked herself in and had a look around.

It was a small-to-medium sized and very orderly room, a double bed with a few pillows and blue sheets sat next to the right wall, with a couple of glass bed stands and lamps on each side. The window on the wall ahead was fairly large, but fortunately covered by the dark grey drapes. To Alyssa's right, she noticed a light brown and tall wardrobe, followed by a desk and chair, then a small table with an armchair near the left far corner. On the left wall, she was relieved to see a tall mirror where she could inspect her wounds, followed by another armchair near the left corner where the door was. It was pretty clear that the room was very rarely used, not that it bothered her.

Placing her camcorder and phone on the desk then approaching the bed, she noticed the clothes Lisa had left for her. A short violet nightgown to sleep in, a white shoulderless blouse with sleeves down to the elbow, a black and flared thigh-length skirt along with a pair of white panties on which she could still see the tag. She blinked in surprise and blushed slightly, she wondered if Lisa had noticed her torn up underwear but hadn't mentioned it to not make her uncomfortable. Even so, she was certainly grateful for it.

Before she put anything on, she wanted to have a closer look at the state her wounds and body were, dry and in a large mirror. Preparing herself, she walked up to the mirror, dropped the towel to the floor, and swallowed when she noticed the black substance in her abdominal wounds, which by then she knew were nanites repairing the damage. It was still such a bizarre feeling to have robots moving around in her body, in a way, she could understand how some people would become very disturbed by it, especially people like the patients at the asylum who were already mentally unstable to begin with. It made her grateful that she was mentally sound enough to remain calm and keep it together while possibly many thousands of robots were swimming around inside her body.

When she checked her deep thigh wound, she was pleased to see that it still wasn't bleeding, and it was almost completely closed. Taking a closer look in the mirror, she did notice some black substance moving around in it too. Around her left shoulder, she could see faint traces of the scratches she accidentally put there with her knife when she cut the sleeve off to wrap around her thigh so she wouldn't bleed to death. Turning her arm around slightly, the wound that Trager had inflicted with his shears was semi-closed and not bleeding anymore either. There were still some faint bruises she could see in places, one on her shin, another above her elbow, but the ones that bothered her the most were the ones on her wrist and neck. She shuddered and chose to push the memories away, but not without counting her blessings for making it out of the asylum as she did, she was well aware that things could have gone so much worse.

Placing her hands on her hips and very carefully stretching her back, she let out a small yawn and glanced in the mirror at the bed behind. How she couldn't wait to get under the soft covers and have the much needed sleep and rest she'd been awaiting for what felt like days. Before heading to the bed to put the nightgown on, she stretched her arms over her head and shut her eyes then went to take a step back, only to feel that she could not.

She lowered her arms and opened her eyes slowly, slightly confused. When she tried to step back again with no success and began feeling a pressure around her waist, then she started to panic.

"What the-?!" she whispered and tried to feel around for whatever was putting pressure on her waist. A gasp escaped her lips and she froze as her fingers tried to wrap around a set of invisible thick wrists. Then, within the span of a few seconds, the shape of the Walrider materialized behind her, black with a dark blue shade, towering over her with his large hands and clawed fingers wrapped almost entirely around her wounded slender waist.

Alyssa's jaw dropped and her legs weakened, she didn't dare look up, she only saw him in the mirror, she was so taken aback and scared that she momentarily forgot she was nude. The realization hit her in the next moment, a small yelp still managed to leave her as she immediately placed her forearm over her nipples and her other hand over her crotch. Her breathing grew frantic as she struggled to move away, only to be squeezed slightly tighter and briefly pulled back.

Just when she was about to protest again, his deep gravelly voice raised a few hairs on the back of her neck

"I need to see your wounds, human."

Upon hearing those words, Alyssa relaxed, barely, she at least calmed her breathing, but her heart continued to race and she still felt extremely uncomfortable as he pushed her closer to the mirror and looked down in it at her. Even though he wasn't human, he still seemed clearly male from all other perspectives, so she couldn't help the blood rising to her face and flushing her cheeks as he continued to inspect her wounds while he only loosened his grip on her waist but didn't remove his hands.

She jolted and inhaled sharply when he suddenly twisted her around and she instinctively backed away, but only had a foot or less until her back leaned against the cold mirror. The breath in her lungs almost froze as he leaned over and reached a clawed finger to her lower abdomen, he gently touched one bullet wound, then slowly made his way up, inspecting each injury in turn. Alyssa swallowed and tried not to whimper, she wasn't in pain, but she was too terrified to even flinch. When his hand was raising even more uncomfortably high, she didn't know how, but she gathered the courage to ask

"Wh...why are you doing this? I mean.. h-healing my injuries.. I'm sorry, I just don't understand.. the whole deal.."

Her heart skipped a beat as he straightened up, but kept his hand on her abdomen on one wound a few inches below her breasts. The way he slightly cocked his head to the side and spoke made her think she was somehow supposed to already know these facts

"Because you are my host now, I need you to stay alive… So that I may remain in this world."

Alyssa's eyes widened in realization, and she whispered thoughtfully to herself almost automatically "Host.." A slight frown formed on her face, now she understood why he had saved her life from Walker, kept her alive after she was shot and healed her wounds. It made sense, but she still had many other questions, she dared to ask another while he seemed calm and willing to answer her.

"I.. understand. But, how did it work before I arrived at the asylum?" her voice was barely above a whisper, and she braced herself, then somewhat relaxed when he spoke again

"The boy at the Morphogenic Engine you saw underground, he was my previous host. The glass sphere was his prison, and because of that, the asylum was my prison."

Her muscles tensed again as he touched and inspected the wound on her upper arm. A few moments of mental debate later, she decided to ask for confirmation

"So.. if I'm free, then you are too?"

"To a certain extent… yes."

Alyssa nodded in understanding and she had to admit to herself, some fascination too. As much as she wanted to ask more, she couldn't help the fear that his patience may run out very soon or that she may say something wrong. Now she knew he wouldn't kill her, but it didn't mean he wouldn't hurt her, or worse, kill someone else.

When he reached for a bullet wound on her breast, some of the panic came back, she inhaled sharply as he began pushing her forearm down, but she struggled to keep it up then placed her other forearm over her chest. A decision she came to regret just a moment later, as she heard a short growl after which he swiftly grabbed both her wrists and roughly pushed them against the mirror on each side of her head. She whined in pain and fright while looking away as he leaned over her and spoke in a mildly annoyed voice

"Why are you being difficult, human? Your body belongs to me as well now."

She didn't know what unsettled her more, his words, or the fact that he wasn't being calm and gentle anymore. Unable to find any appropriate response, she tried to remain still and not shiver while he looked down at her. Much to her relief, he hadn't touched the wound on her breast, and more relief came when he let go of her wrists. She tried to remain quiet again as he twisted her around, not as roughly, then checked the wound on her thigh. A few seconds later, she breathed more easily when he finished and backed away, but hadn't vanished.

Taking advantage of the freedom, she walked over to the bed, trying to appear as if she wasn't rushing too much, and began putting on her underwear and nightgown. When she finished and turned around, she noticed the Walrider floating in front of the window, pushing the drapes just enough to see outside. It reminded her that he wasn't the only thing she had to worry about, she sat on the bed, hugged her knees to her chest, and moments later, gathered the courage to talk to him again

"Murkoff is going to come after us…" She looked away when he turned in her direction, but his words raised mixed emotions in her

"It doesn't matter, I will kill every single one of them."

Alyssa blinked and frowned in surprise and confusion, she tried to reject the sense of relief trying to come over her, the slim chance of the Walrider helping them against Murkoff seemed too good to be true. Then again, she reminded herself that he said he needed her alive. One urgent question immediately followed, she bit her lip in anticipation, understanding that the answer could heavily influence the survival chances of both herself and the Park family. Fearing the worst, she spoke barely above a whisper

"Will you find another host?.."

Her eyes didn't leave him and her breath slowed by itself as he quietly floated to the armchair next to the mirror then sat down. He leaned back and let his arms hang down over the armrests, the chair slightly too small for him, before he finally answered

"Unlikely. A match seems to be one in a million."

As conflicted as she felt, Alyssa concealed a sigh of relief as best she could, then dared to ask another question

"Matching.. what exactly has to be a match?"

He barely raised a hand lazily to wave it dismissively

"Frequency, too complicated for you. Sleep."

She caught herself before she pouted, gave a quick nod and made herself comfortable in bed. The sunlight was beginning to creep inside the room more and more even through the dark but thin drapes, so she pulled the blanket a little higher to make it easier to fall asleep with some darkness.

It unsettled her that he hadn't vanished this time, she guessed he was going to stay there and watch her sleep, which made her more than a little uncomfortable. The things he said raced through her mind, but she still insisted to not let her guard down, the possibility that they had his help against Murkoff seemed too good to be true, she didn't want to get her hopes up about such life-deciding factors, so she pushed the thoughts away and sleep took her within a minute due to the exhausted condition of both her body and mind.

* * *

The Walrider watched from a distance as his new human fell asleep, briefly trying to remember her name before dismissing it, considering it of little importance.

As he noticed the blanket over her rise and drop slightly with her steady breath, he felt a sense of curiosity, his previous host, Billy, was a skilled lucid dreamer, and in those dreams he was able to control a portion of his nanites to form his own swarm. The Walrider allowed it, mostly because of the novelty of it, no one else had been able to lift even one nanobot before, to see a human manipulate millions at once was admittedly impressive, even though it was rather clumsy and lacked precision. Not to mention that the boy needed an escape, at least a mental one, as his physical body was imprisoned in the glass sphere underground. That escape was useful for Billy, but not so much for the other humans in the asylum.

Understandably, Billy was very angry and unstable after all the cruelty he had been subjected to, so he used the nanites to take out all his wrath on the people responsible, leaving a trail of corpses torn to pieces and rivers of blood in his wake. Almost amusingly, most of the deaths caused by Billy were blamed on the Walrider, especially in the case of the patients, who would scream his name in terror and write it in blood on walls, he had become some sort of boogeyman in the asylum. Not to say he hadn't killed his fair share, but he was not the prime culprit. The misunderstanding didn't necessarily bother him, he had no regard for human life anyway, as virtually all his experiences with humans in this particular dimension had been deeply negative.

Returning to the present moment, he wondered if his current host was ever going to have any ability to manipulate his nanites, although he highly doubted it. He stood up and slowly floated to the side of her bed.

Looking down at her sleeping body, he had to admit he felt some curiosity ever since he merged with her, he had never had a female host before, not for the lack of trying. Unsurprisingly, all the potential female hosts that had been presented to him in the past were too unstable and delusional to work with. This one, apart from also being a frequency match, was fortunately sane enough, at least for the time being, and for his sake, he intended to keep it that way. Regardless, he had to admit he didn't need to check her wounds up-close, he only wanted to.

He floated away from her bed and temporarily dispersed his nanites to crawl under the locked door, then recomposed his form on the other side. The hallway was fortunately empty, he had had enough screaming humans to last him an eternity, if his ears could be damaged from the noise, they would have been since a long time ago.

Floating down the stairs, he began hearing noises of clanking cutlery, the human man and woman from before speaking, and two young voices he did not recognize. Children? The distressed tone of the man caught his attention, so he paused at the bottom of the stairs and heard the man speak in a quiet voice

"-and then what?! If it keeps going like this we're in deep shit, Lisa! This was our only chance, what do we do then?"

The Walrider ignored their argument and floated past the open door and towards the entrance door. Unsurprisingly, two screams were heard from behind, followed by a panicked young voice

"Dad! Did you see that?"

Before anyone approached, he had already dispersed his nanites into a cloud and slid outside under the door, but remained in the barely visible smoke-like form.

Floating to the sidewalk and throwing a glance behind, he reminded himself that he should not go too far away nor stay away for too long, his host was fairly safe in the house for the time being, but he did not trust it to stay that way for much longer.

He circled the house and scanned the environment and inside for any abnormalities, especially any hidden cameras or microphones that might have been secretly installed by Murkoff's agents after the man who lived here tried to expose them. Fortunately, he found nothing, so he began patrolling the small town.

Admittedly, it was a nice change of location, it was pleasant to not be bound inside the same old buildings for years, but he was not there to enjoy the scenery. He eavesdropped on people in cafes for hints of incoming danger, inspected questionable looking cars, searched suspicious people for hidden weapons carried by undercover agents, checked security cameras, nothing. There was no sign of Murkoff being present in the town, but that didn't mean they weren't on their way.

 **_Come find me._ **

Passing by a sniffing dog on the other side of the road, even though the Walrider was still invisible, the animal quickly picked up on what it considered to be an anomaly and began barking and growling in his direction. The swarm ignored it and continued on his way, but was reminded that Murkoff weren't unlikely to also use animals in their search, since human senses were inferior in many ways.

As he passed by a gas station, he noticed one man dressed in a white shirt and brown dress pants, orange haired with a small brown spot on the side of his forehead, pacing back and forth in the nearly empty area in front of the store while holding his coat in one hand and the phone he was speaking at in the other. Approaching discreetly, the Walrider could distinguish the man's nervous mannerisms and tone of voice as he spoke

"Damn right I'm sure it was their house, I-I lived here for ten years for god's sake … Yeah … You said wire transfer, right? … Well good, hurry it up, I need to get the hell out of here … How many more tim-.. No, I was too far away and by the time I got close the garage door was already closed … Yes, I worked with Park for years, I _am_ sure, tell your boss to- … Alright, alright."

The Walrider had heard enough to become suspicious, he wrapped his nanites around the man's phone then swiftly slid it out of his hand and dropped it to the ground. Normally, if left to simply drop with gravity, the device would not have managed to slide right between the thin holes of the sewer lid's grates that the man stood above, but he guided it on the way down and made sure that it did.

"What the?! Ah fuck!" The man nearly shouted with frustration and quickly kneeled down and looked between the grates. The sunlight reaching through made it clear that the phone was simply lying there on a dry sewer catwalk, and the man stood up mumbling to himself "Paid a fortune for that thing, I'll be damned if.."

Fortunately, the Walrider didn't have to bother dragging the man kicking and screaming to a dark alley and attract attention, he was indeed going to take the bait and bring himself to a secluded place for him.

He followed the human as he reached for the closest manhole cover and lifted it with some difficulty while almost continuously mumbling curses to himself, a few people that passed by gave him odd looks, but they were unable to see the swarm beyond a very vague greyish cloud. The man climbed down the dirty metallic ladder and went searching for his phone, oblivious of the entity behind him.

Gathering his nanites, he reshaped his usual dark form and followed the man a while longer until he reached the device he was searching for.

"Finally." the man mumbled, picked up his phone and buttoned it for a few seconds, but as he turned around to head back to the ladder, he dropped it again, along with his jaw, when he was faced with the dark towering being just a foot away.

Before he managed to start screaming at the top of his lungs, the Walrider gripped one hand tightly around the man's neck, who instinctively began struggling and trying to pry it away. His efforts were wasted, as his grasp hadn't budged, and the man's squirming ceased when he heard the gravelly voice echoing in the sewer and settling in his bones

"Who was that?" he loosened his grip just enough to allow the man to speak, who did so, barely, coughing before answering

"Jesus Mary I'm so-" He smacked the human's head against the brick wall and briefly squeezed his throat again, he had no time for such foolishness

"Who. did you speak to?"

The man coughed again and his terror-stricken wide eyes began watering between blinks "M-Murkoff agent! Wouldn't tell me names, t-they promised me five grand if I tell them about some guy named Park! Told 'em I saw a car drive in his garage, didn't catch the plate number! That's all, I swear!"

The Walrider's grip on the man's neck tightened reflexively upon hearing his words.

 **_Informants._ **

He had to admit, the willingness humans had to betray and hurt one another for material gain, especially outside asylums, was remarkable. Perhaps in the asylums it made some sense, as the people there were mentally ill and unstable, but these ones were sane, and this one was acquainted with the one he had sold out to Murkoff.

For a moment, he removed his hand from the man's neck, who stumbled back and spoke between coughs "What the f-fuck are you?"

Without hesitation, he grabbed the human's hair and pulled his head back "Don't speak." he growled, and in one swift movement, buried his clawed hand through the center of his neck, tearing through muscle, veins and larynx until he reached the spine in the back. The moment he removed his hand, blood splattered on his chest, and he dropped the man, who fell to the ground desperately clutching his neck and making gurgling noises as the blood continued to spurt between his fingers and flow off the catwalk, into the filth of the sewer.

Using his nanites, he lifted the man's phone in the air, took apart its vital pieces, then allowed them to drop to the ground before making his leave.

Returning to the surface, he dissipated into a cloud again to become invisible, and made his way back to the house. As he flew by, he glanced around at passing cars and people suspiciously, any of them could have been working for Murkoff, anyone could have been undercover. It was early, the Park human had said the corporation would act within a day, but clearly he was too generous with the time, they were likely already on their way, especially since they were tipped off that someone arrived at Park's house.

When he reached the house and slid back inside under the door, he was greeted by an orange tabby cat who immediately hissed at him and arched its back threateningly. The swarm did not react, but briefly observed the animal's hostility, it was not unlike the dog's behavior from before.

"Peanut?" a young voice was heard, and from the kitchen walked out the little human to whom it belonged. The boy glanced with some confusion at the agitated cat, but when he went to pick it up and calm it, he paused, then turned his gaze towards the door. Even though he could see nothing abnormal, the boy stared into the seemingly empty space of the hallway, and a slight frown grew on his face.

"Dad?.." the boy tried to call out towards the other room while his eyes were frozen in place, but it only came out as a whisper, drowned out by the sound of his parents talking in the kitchen. The child was both confused and frightened, and especially confused because he didn't understand why he was scared.

That was, until the Walrider gathered his nanites back together and revealed his form. The boy let out a high pitched scream, grabbed the cat in his arms then shouted as he ran back into the kitchen with it

"Dad! Mom!" a few sobs escaped the child who rushed into his mother's arms. The mother who comforted him immediately, and father who stood up and walked in the doorway, then jumped when he saw the figure standing in the hallway. Waylon's eyes shot wide in disbelief and fear, then his mouth opened slightly to speak, but the swarm questioned him first

"Man with orange hair, spot on the forehead, recognize him?"

Waylon paused, taken aback by the sudden situation, but then remembered Alyssa telling him that the thing from the asylum was following them. Doing his best to push away the fear and stand his ground, Waylon took a deep breath, then his eyes searchingly moved away from the swarm as he recalled such a person

"Y..yeah, actually, sounds like a guy I used to work with at the asylum.. Why?"

The Walrider floated closer and by the man, but while he noticeably tensed up and he could hear his heart thumping rapidly, he remained standing tall in the doorway, in front of his family.

Lisa gasped when she saw a part of the shadowy figure float by her husband, and spoke in a barely audible voice "Waylon?..." but her husband shushed her

"It's okay, don't worry.."

The Walrider stopped near the bottom of the stairs and glanced back over his shoulder

"Murkoff informant, found him on the phone with them. Told them a car arrived in your garage, but hadn't seen the plate number."

Waylon frowned and paused, then turned to his wife who spoke before he did

"Oh my god, Jackson? He told on us? Who is.."

"That motherf-.. Christ, I can't believe it, I never got along with that guy, but to sell us out to Murkoff like this?!" Waylon bit his tongue to not cuss in front of his child, then shook his head in disbelief and sat back down at the kitchen table. A very concerned expression grew on Lisa's face as she continued to caress her son's head, who was a bundle of fright in her arms after the sight he saw.

"Just when you were about to go to sleep, honey.." she spoke softly towards her husband, who rubbed his temple and sighed heavily

"No time for sleep anymore.. We gotta leave, as soon as possible. Let's go pack our bags.."

By the time the man finished, the Walrider had already gone up the stairs and crawled under the guest bedroom door.

As expected, he found his host still sleeping safely. She had slept less than an hour though, not nearly enough after what she had been through, but then he heard an unconscious whimper come from her, and he approached the side of the bed. Moving the blanket and her hair away from her face, he noticed her pained expression, accompanied by another whimper. Nightmares were not unexpected, considering the way her past day was spent, but it was at least another reason to wake her up.


	14. Chapter 14

Alyssa briefly squirmed and whimpered in her sleep as her mind was inundated with past but recent horrors. If she didn't know any better, she'd think her mind was trying to harm her intentionally, because it made her re-live the worst moments in the asylum, which were definitely the worst moments of her life. She was feeling it all, the terror of being chased by homicidal madmen, being caught, helpless and defenseless, stalked in the darkness, choked moments from death, pierced through her limbs and shot to what should have been certain death. The agonizing screams of the preacher they called Father Martin rang in her head while images of the man's flesh scorching under the fire flashed through her mind, his body writhing and contorting in pain she couldn't even imagine until it fell limp and left a black charred husk behind.

"Human."

The voice was muffled and distant, Alyssa couldn't quite place it, and it was quickly drowned out by more horrific sounds and images. She whimpered again and jolted when she re-lived the moment she fell through the stairs and a sheet of metal deeply pierced the flesh of her leg.

"Wake up."

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, her mind brought her back to the time Trager was holding her down, about to cut into her with his giant shears, and she felt her eyes watering and squeezing tightly shut in fright. However, when she felt something shake her, the entire nightmare scene was suddenly vanquished, and she was left by herself

"We are leaving!"

She heard the voice much clearer, but she still couldn't remember it. Despite that, she felt a different kind of fear growing within her, what little of her conscious mind was present could not understand why, but she was suddenly overwhelmed by an intense fear of abandonment.

On the border between sleep and wakefulness, she whispered, unsure herself to whom

"Don't leave…"

Silence followed, silence which felt painfully long to her confused and frightened mind. She could barely hear, and her vision was composed of blotchy red shapes on a black background, the only clear thing she could feel was the hand firmly gripping her shoulder. For some reason, she felt as if that hand would release her, she would be slowly but surely pulled in towards the red and black abyss.

"Please.." she mumbled semi-consciously again, and when she was gently shaken again, it felt like a short earthquake in her mind. Suddenly, she felt the grip on her shoulder loosen and the feeling of the hand vanish. Not understanding herself why, the lack of feeling immensely intensified her already irrational unconscious fear, and she quickly grabbed the wrist of the hand leaving her, barely aware of her body's actions.

"Don't leave me!" she suddenly cried out as she finally woke up.

A few frightening post-nightmare seconds passed as she breathed heavily, then she slowly became aware of her current state and began opening her eyes. The Walrider hadn't moved, finding the situation mildly interesting and somewhat surprising that she hadn't screamed in fear at the sight of him looming over her. Instead, she stared at him with confused tearful eyes, her gaze traveling down his arm until it met both her hands tightly wrapped around his wrist.

Her brows furrowed briefly, until she fully realized what she had done. Immediately, she let go and scurried away on the bed

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I-I didn't, I was-" she stumbled over her words both in fear and embarrassment before he interrupted

"Nightmares?"

She hugged her knees to her chest and only nodded in response as she wiped away her tears and tried to push aside the memories. However, she quickly noticed how exhausted she still felt, and spoke as she kept her gaze away from the Walrider

"How.. long have I been asleep? Did something happen?"

"I found a Murkoff informant, Park's co-worker sold him out, told them a car arrived in his garage. He didn't see your license number. And you slept for thirty minutes."

Turning to face him, Alyssa's jaw dropped slightly, her voice came out almost as a whisper

"Oh my god.. We don't have much time." Without thinking, she got up and began walking towards the door, but paused and turned back when she realized she was still only wearing a nightgown.

Picking up the blouse from the bed, she laid it over the blanket then another realization hit her: she needed to change, but she was not alone, and she did not want to go outside the room dressed improperly. She swallowed and glanced around the room awkwardly, purposefully avoiding looking up at the Walrider, then spoke, trying to keep her voice even

"I, uhm.. Could I- I mean could you.. I need to.." she picked up the blouse off the bed, in hopes that he would get the hint. A moment later, she jolted and took a step back when he spoke roughly and impatiently

"Hurry it up, human, we don't have time to waste on your vanity!" He gestured a hand dismissively at her and she bit her lip in frustration and embarrassment, he did not get the hint, at least so it seemed, but much to her relief, he at least walked to the window and parted the drapes to look outside. With a discreet sigh, she took advantage of the moment and quickly slipped out of the nightgown and put her new clothes on.

Stepping out of the guest bedroom and into the bathroom next door, she put on her boots and retrieved her belt. Before she left, she quickly rushed to the laundry bin and dug through until she found her shorts and pulled her wallet out of the back pocket.

"Idiot!.." she mumbled to herself then placed the wallet in the single pocket on the side of her skirt.

Back in the guest bedroom, she attached her camcorder to the belt, put it on, and placed her phone in the pocket of her skirt next to her wallet. It was a surreal and somewhat depressing sensation, it brought back the feelings of when she was preparing to leave for the asylum, but she shook them away, she had to focus on the present moment.

Throwing a discreet glance at the Walrider, she saw that he was standing on his skeletal feet instead of floating, waiting with his arms crossed, but before she looked away, something caught her attention. On his right shoulder, she could see a splatter of something red. Her brows furrowed slightly as she spoke softly but with an air of suspicion

"That can't be yours…"

She could have sworn she saw a hint of a shrug before he spoke slowly, as vague as her implied question was, he understood

"They will not find the informant's body soon."

Alyssa swallowed and gave a barely visible nod, mostly out of fear, then headed to the door. After what little rest she managed to have, she had almost forgotten that she had fallen asleep in the same room as a highly volatile sentient swarm of nano-machines that killed viciously at the drop of a hat. A shudder went through her, one that she did her best to suppress, when she recalled her hands around his wrist when she had woken up. She was still so close to danger and death, even after she had escaped the asylum, she made a mental note to be more careful around him, as if such a reminder was necessary.

Exiting the bedroom, a child's voice caught her attention, coming from beyond the open bedroom door down the hallway

"It _was_ a ghost, I saw it!"

Another unfamiliar, slightly older voice replied "Don't be stupid, there's no such thing as ghosts."

"There are! Mom saw it too, tell him mom!" The little voice spoke again with some frustration that made Alyssa both smile at the adorable display but also fear for their safety, the Walrider was dangerous enough for adults, she did not like the fact that children had to be nearby.

When she walked to the bedroom in question, she was met with the entire Park family. Waylon had changed out of the bloody jumpsuit from the asylum into a pair of jeans and a jacket and was walking around the room gathering things, some of which he handed to Lisa, who also changed into a yellow floral sundress, and who was packing two suitcases on the bed. Glancing at the brown-haired children, one of the boys looked no older than nine years old, wearing shorts and a t-shirt while he also ran around the room, sometimes getting in his father's way. The other boy, who seemed to be around fifteen to sixteen, wore a ball cap and loose baggy pants and t-shirt, and leaned against the wall, his gaze fixed on the smartphone in his hands.

"Hope I'm not intruding.." Alyssa spoke semi-seriously, attracting Lisa's attention, who paused her packing and turned

"O-oh, not at all. Guys, don't be rude, say hello to our friend, Alyssa. This is Samuel." she spoke with motherly tenderness glancing to the little one, who only stopped frolicking to say a somewhat shy "Hi"

"And this is Alexander." Lisa turned to the older boy, who only mumbled a "hey" without lifting his gaze from his smartphone.

The woman sighed softly "Sorry, you know teens and their phon- "

"And this is Peanut!" Sam interrupted his mother as he gently but quickly picked up the cat from the armchair and ran to Alyssa with it.

The girl giggled and crouched down to their level, for a pleasant moment forgetting all the trouble they were in

"Nice to meet you guys, you too, Peanut." She petted the cat's head, who lazily just allowed the boy to hold him, almost flowing out of his arms.

"Step aside, Sam." Alyssa rose up as she heard Waylon speak and noticed him pick something off the table then walk up to her. The boy put the cat down, who left the room, and climbed on the bed next to the suitcases his mother was packing.

"Since you're up and ready, I assume you've been told, we need to get the hell outta dodge. Here, I got these a while back when I didn't have the balls to turn on Murkoff but still made some plans, got them modded but we should only use them in emergencies, in case we ever get separated, and keep the calls as short as possible. Lisa and I will keep one, the boys will have one, and this one's yours."

As he walked away, Alyssa couldn't help smiling at the ancient little phone in her hand, it was almost a piece of antiquity. She had to admit, not having GPS or internet seemed like a major flaw at first glance, but it was vital to help keeping them under the radar while still allowing communication, so it was as close to perfect as they could get.

She pocketed the old device next to her wallet, then her smile grew and she suppressed a chuckle when Waylon approached his older son, took the smartphone out of his hands and replaced it with another phone like hers.

"Hey!" The boy protested, but his father said nothing, only began taking out the battery and SIM card of the confiscated phone then left them on a table, while his son looked down at the one handed to him like it was an alien artifact.

 _Don't be so grumpy over it, at least you'll be able to play Snake.._ Alyssa joked to herself and concealed her smile.

"Oh! Damn, I almost forgot, with being taken off guard by.. well, your co-worker's nefarious intentions. How did our footage do online, Mr. Park? Has it stirred any attention yet?"

Waylon's sigh as he leaned over the table and glanced down at the disassembled smartphone did not inspire her confidence, she braced herself for even more bad news. It felt like too long until the man finally spoke

"They took it down within minutes. Not just our video, but the whole damn site. I put it online again on another one, same thing. Uploaded again earlier, haven't checked what happened to that one yet. I backed it up on a thumb drive though, we can't let it go, we have to keep trying.."

Alyssa exhaled somberly and raised a hand to her temple in disbelief "I.. Damn it! Of course Murkoff has tons of shills working for them. And connections.. They knew you escaped, that they have handheld cameras in the asylum, so they're taking the proper countermeasures.."

Waylon nodded briefly, then walked out "I need to take care of some things, could you help Lisa finish up packing and bring some things to the car?"

"Yes.. we'll be ready." Alyssa spoke, not fully present. She dreaded this, all the pain and misery she'd been through, all of it to get that video evidence, and if that evidence wouldn't stay online, it would've all been for nothing. Worse than nothing, in fact, as Murkoff were on their tail already, she knew the corporation hated loose ends like themselves and always sought to remove them.

She helped Lisa to finish packing the two suitcases, mostly in silence and small talk, then the woman went to attend her children's, who each had smaller suitcases.

After she was alone, Alyssa cracked open the guest bedroom door and peeked inside. It was empty. She didn't understand why, but she suddenly felt a bizarre uneasiness begin to creep up on her, which she tried to keep from turning into mild panic. She couldn't feel the Walrider's presence like before.

Dashing downstairs, she looked through the window only to spot Waylon in her car, backing it up to a distance of almost two houses away, then exiting the car and beginning to walk down the street at a brisk pace. She frowned in confusion, but she trusted him.

The uneasy feeling hadn't left her however, and she felt compelled to walk around the house, with nothing but a very vague, indescribable idea of what she needed to find. Walking through the living room, she could see clearly, but somehow she felt like a newly blind person, in search for something she barely understood.

Her quest was cut short and she nearly jolted when Lisa suddenly called out to her and asked for help to carry the suitcases to the car. Alyssa shook her head slightly and tried to push away the strange feeling of uneasiness, she hadn't felt anything of that magnitude before, it was as if something vital to her was missing, but on a much grander scale.

She rushed upstairs, partly to distract herself, as the unfamiliar feeling made her uncomfortable in different ways, and picked up one of the large suitcases, Lisa following her down the stairs with the other. The moment she took the first step out the door, all the uneasiness that was increasingly creeping up on her and threatening to turn into panic had suddenly been washed away at once, and she felt the presence of the Walrider again. An audible sigh of relief escaped her lips, then Lisa's words caught her attention

"Something wrong?" That was when she realized she had stopped and was standing in the doorway, she quickly continued towards the car while mumbling "I'm fine.." Her first instinct was to question the swarm on where he had gone, then she quickly decided against it.

Relaxing considerably, they walked up to the car and placed both suitcases safely in the trunk. As they returned to the house, Alyssa couldn't help noticing the way the small town looked. Maybe it was her strange state of mind due to the recent events and the exhaustion, but it looked so safe, bright and friendly, during the sunny and warm summer day, it would seem hard to believe they were in so much danger there, yet it was reality.

"I'll go help the kids finish their packing. Lucky you, you don't have any, travel light.." Lisa began on their way back, but her words faded when she spotted Waylon approaching the house, holding a red suitcase-shaped object in each hand, walking quickly. The man didn't acknowledge them, he only went out of sight, presumably inside the house.

His wife's pace slowed almost to a halt, and Alyssa noticed a sorrowful expression on the woman's face, but didn't understand what was going on.

"Mrs. Park? Are you okay?"

Lisa exhaled heavily and shook her head lightly, then wiped an eye with her finger

"No.. We'll be fine."

She followed the older woman back to the house, hesitant to ask more questions, clearly something touchy was happening and she didn't want to be inappropriate. When they reached the house again, Lisa walked upstairs without even glancing in the kitchen where her husband was.

"Alyssa. Come with me." Waylon's tone sounded even more serious than before, and he was still in a rush, not that it bothered her, as she partially understood his situation. However, he had even more responsibility to carry, since he had to take care of his family as best he could, it made her realize that at least her own family was safe and sound, far away.

Before she even stepped in the kitchen, Waylon walked past her, and she quickly followed. Leaving the house again, they continued down the street, Alyssa didn't feel like having any small talk, the more time passed, the more dire the situation felt, and his tense behavior was only making it worse, but she couldn't blame him.

As she somewhat struggled to keep up the pace with Waylon, she glanced around at the people and passing cars. The sight invoked different feelings in her, including paranoia, Murkoff knew where Waylon lived and what he had done, she couldn't help suspecting people of being undercover, it made her feel like some sort of tinfoil wearing lunatic, or mental asylum escapee, the latter of which she was guilty of, with good reasons, but this was a matter of personal life and death, she couldn't afford being insincere, so she kept her eyes open for anything she found suspicious. Some envy had also snuck into her mind, accompanied by frustration and mild anger, as she watched people carelessly chatter to each other and laugh.

 _None of you had a clue of what was happening at Mount Massive, and none of you bothered to do anything even when you had a clue. It had to be us, and now we have to run for our lives, our days are numbered, our families are in mortal danger, because people like you would rather prattle away on your stupid phones all day or watch your stupid television programming than lift a finger to see what's happening in the real world, behind the veil pulled over your eyes…_

Alyssa felt her teeth grit and her fist clench, it was all already starting to get to her, it was a bad sign, as they hadn't even left the town yet. Aware of her growing foul mood, she took a deep breath in and exhaled in an attempt to quench her frustrations, being angry would serve no one any good, she had to remain alert and focused.

As she returned her attention to the task at hand, she had to do a double-take when she noticed the gas station they were approaching. After Waylon bought three canisters of gasoline and she noticed the bright red rectangular shape of them, she quickly recalled him walking in the house with two others just like them, and understood what was happening, including why his wife was upset.

Taking the canister she was handed, she followed him quietly as he walked ahead carrying the other two. Passing by a man who worked at the gas station, he glanced at them and spoke with a smile in a friendly tone

"Oh-ho, you guys makin' one hella barbecue or something huh, don't forget to invite the neighbors."

Waylon said nothing, he continued walking at a brisk pace, and Alyssa chuckled briefly at the man's playful remark, but felt anything but amusement. When they were away from the gas station, she sighed heavily and broke the silence

"Shit, I'm sorry Mr. Park, I can't imagine what it's.. How long have you and your family lived here?"

"Fifteen years.." Waylon spoke in a low tone, it was easy to tell he was making a very difficult decision. Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, but the man continued "Don't be. Survival takes priority, we leave them no trace, not a hair." She swallowed, but nodded with determination

"Understood.."

Alyssa felt bad for the man and his family, even though she lived at a different house than her family for the past few years, she couldn't imagine setting fire to her own childhood home, the place she grew up in, all the memories, bitter and sweet, contained in one building that she would have to turn into a pile of charred wood and ash.

A small shiver went down her spine, and she glanced ahead at the man's back. As much as she pitied him, she had to admit he was very strong willed, not only having the courage to become a whistleblower, against a corporation as ruthless and infamous as Murkoff, of all things, but he had endured whatever nightmares they put him through after they caught him, and he escaped the asylum in one piece, especially mentally sound, and he was now willing to burn down his own house, his home where he lived with his wife for fifteen years and where they raised their children, all in the hopes of destroying any evidence of their whereabouts and where they might go.

He was a computer engineer, and he worked for Murkoff, he knew better than any of them how crafty the corporation was, their technology was top of the line, but even so, they still needed a trace, something to start with, yet Waylon went to that extreme in order to give them nothing. She couldn't help but feel respect for the man. Then, she remembered how she had virtually given up when the asylum elevator took her underground, and a feeling of shame began gnawing at her. How she had been so weak, when other people were enduring like this. Instead of dwelling on it, she decided to promise herself to do better, feeling determined and especially inspired by Waylon's courage and actions.

When they returned to the house, Lisa was waiting on the sidewalk, but facing away from their home, she spoke to her husband when he walked within earshot "The kids are waiting in the car." Waylon only nodded and walked inside. He placed the gasoline canisters in the kitchen next to the other two, and Alyssa did the same with the one she carried, then watched the man rush upstairs.

During the short wait, she glanced around the house one last time, thinking how this was where a loving family was raised for fifteen years, and how it was soon going to become a pile of ash. Now it was clear why Waylon had driven the car away, he wanted his family to wait there in it, he didn't want them to see him pour the gasoline everywhere and planned for them to be far away by the time the fire would engulf the outside of the house and be visible from a distance.

A minute later, he returned with a silver laptop, which he handed to her "This is my most secure computer, we'll only use it for emergencies, like if our footage gets downed again, we'll use this to put it right back up. Take it to the car, get in, and wait there with Lisa and the boys." His tone was more calculated and calm, but she could still feel the tension in it.

"Right away." Her voice carried a similar dead-serious tone, she took the laptop and walked out of the kitchen. Throwing one last glance behind, she watched the man for a second and saw his fist briefly clench and quiver slightly, before he abruptly walked up to the gas canisters and began taking the cap off of one. Alyssa swallowed then looked away and exited the house, leaving the man to finish the somber business.

Outside, his wife was waiting in silence, her gaze at the ground, and her hand holding something tiny close to her chest.

"Mrs. Park, your husband said we should get in the car and wait for him. Did you pack everything?"

The woman nodded and followed "Yes.. We have everything." They only walked a few feet before the woman's words stopped both of them "Alyssa, please be honest with me." The younger woman turned around and gave her a questioning look, and only then noticed the gold crucifix in the other's hand, attached to her neck with a thin gold chain.

"I.. of course, Mrs. Park, what is it?"

The woman shook her head lightly "Just call me Lisa. Waylon told me before that.. this was a possibility. The fire.. I hoped it was just another one of his stupid dark jokes, but, well.. apparently not. I understand we have to make some sacrifices, big ones, I'll feel better, eventually... But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I.. I just can't stop thinking about it. Earlier I was very busy packing and making sure we're not missing anything and what not, but now I can't ignore it anymore. Waylon only told me vague things and that he doesn't know either. And.. Sam keeps saying he saw a ghost. Normally I would dismiss it as a child's overactive imagination, but.. I saw it too. We were in the kitchen earlier, and.. something passed by the door. It was like a tall black shadow just by itself, I think it flew by, and Waylon spoke to it. It told us about Jackson, the man who sold us out to Murkoff.. And that voice that came from it.. I just-.. It makes my skin crawl just remembering it now. I don't want to scare you, I just want to ask if you know anything about it?"

The woman's tone was a mix of disbelief and fear, Alyssa found it increasingly difficult to look at her, as guilt began creeping up into her mind, she couldn't help feeling like she was endangering them by being around them. Still, she decided to be as truthful as she could without frightening the already unsettled woman further

"I don't know much either.. I just know that the.. whatever it is that you saw, had saved my life twice, and that if it wanted to harm us, we wouldn't be standing here."

On second thought, she wished she picked her words more carefully, as the woman clutched the crucifix in her hand tighter and didn't seem reassured "My God… I have children, Alyssa. Is it going to follow us?"

"I.. am really not sure... We need to go Mrs.-, I mean Lisa, we really need to get ready. Please, don't stress over it, we have more urgent problems to worry about, come." She resumed her walk towards the car, and the woman followed hesitantly after a heavy sigh.

Reaching the car, she noticed Sam and Alex in the back seat, along with the cat sitting on the younger boy's lap, his brother appearing still grumpy and somewhat agitated. After their mother gently pushed Sam closer to the middle of the seat, she sat next to them then shut the door, and the older boy spoke

"Will _someone_ tell me where we're going?"

Alyssa placed the laptop in a safe tight space on the left side of the passenger seat, but remained outside, glancing back towards the house.

"We just need to leave for a while, honey, don't worry.." Lisa answered her son moments later, the apprehension in her tone evident. The boy grumbled something else, more to himself, but his mother only stared out the window at the other houses. A concerned thought flashed through her mind, she worried the fire could spread to the neighbors, but dismissed it when she double-checked the distance between their house and the one closest to it, it was fairly far away, it was more than likely the firefighters would contain the situation quickly.

Standing next to the car with the passenger door open, Alyssa discreetly stepped aside and pushed the door half-closed. She took a few small steps forward and kept facing away from the vehicle, then glanced around to make sure no one was passing by. After she was in the clear, she took a breath in and whispered

"Where are you?.."

A light breeze blew a few strands of hair on her face as she waited seconds, she brushed them aside, but as more moments passed, she received no answer, nothing out loud, nothing in her head. Even so, she didn't have the unsettling feeling from before anymore, she knew the Walrider was near, yet he gave no sign of it, there was only that inexplicable way of her being able to sense his presence.

A small realization crossed her mind, which she found almost amusing, the fact that she was standing there waiting and hoping to hear voices in her head. Suppressing a faint smile, she slowly began taking a few small steps forward. Only a few meters from the car, she gasped and her progress was halted when she suddenly felt a tight grip on her wrist, but one that loosened in the next second. When she glanced back, she saw nothing, only felt the pressure on her skin.

 **_I'm here._ **

Even though it was what she hoped to happen, she still jumped when his voice echoed in her mind, and noted that it would be a while until she got used to it.

Her heart began thumping just a little faster, she couldn't help it, even as the pressure around her wrist vanished. She didn't try to approach the house anymore, even though she now wanted to check on Waylon, she told herself to trust that he was going to finish and join them soon.

As two more minutes passed, Alyssa noticed her heart wouldn't slow down, and she knew why, her eyes kept glancing around at the passing people and cars, especially the ones in the distance that were looking their way. She told herself it was nothing, but paranoia was beginning to gnaw at her, the longer they stayed, the more unsafe she felt.

 _Dammit, Mr. Park, I know it's not easy to burn down your own house, but we have to go asap.._

Without really noticing, her heel had already started lightly tapping the pavement, more out of anxiety than anything else, and she bit her lip harder than she'd realized. Glancing back, she spotted Lisa in the car, her expression also growing more concerned as time passed.

She didn't know if it was her rational mind doing the judging or her agitated emotions, but when she gazed at the intersection, she couldn't help feeling even more anxious as she noticed a man dressed in an open dark blue suit with sunglasses speaking on his phone, standing on the sidewalk. The fact that he occasionally looked directly at them for seconds at a time as he talked only increased her worries, she swallowed and took a deep breath in an attempt to relax, but it was no use.

 _Is he looking at us? He is, I saw him, twice, no, three times. Oh my god, again? Christ, what do we do? Is he Murkoff? Or another informant? They know where Waylon lives, they'd know where to place or send them. What's taking Waylon so long?_ Her thoughts raced almost as fast as her heart now, and when she wanted to step back, she found her body hesitant to comply, even though nothing was holding her in place. It only reminded her of the time she spent in the asylum and how often she'd feel this type of paranoia and anxiety, except it was worse then, as the threat of death was immediate, but she still dreaded this.

After what felt to her nearly panicking mind like more long minutes, she breathed out a huge sigh of relief when she finally saw Waylon turn the corner and walk towards them. Not surprisingly, the man was walking as fast as he could without outright running, as to not attract attention. When he was reaching closer, she wanted to ask if he would prefer her to drive, but he was already heading for the driver side of the car, so she quickly got in the passenger seat and closed the door.

The children greeted their father, the younger one happily and the older one impatiently, as the man rushed in the driver's seat, slammed the door shut and began fumbling with the keys.

"Everything's ready, let's get out of here." Waylon spoke in a less serious but still hurried tone and turned the key in the ignition.

"We didn't even get to say goodbye to the neighbors.." his wife said almost melancholically as the engine roared awake.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alyssa noticed Waylon roll his eyes and shake his head lightly. Without warning, he slammed down on the pedal and the car accelerated sharply, the tires momentarily screeching on the hot cement street. It reminded Alyssa to put her seat belt on, not just for the usual safety, but also because the man driving was physically and mentally exhausted. She did so, after checking that the people in the back were also wearing theirs, but couldn't help feeling that Waylon driving again was a bad idea.

Then again, she couldn't forget that she wasn't in any better condition herself, so asking him to swap places would only be changing one exhausted driver for another. Still, she told herself that first they needed to put some distance between them and Leadville, then they could worry about other things, and hoped that they wouldn't be in a car wreck before that happened.


	15. Chapter 15

Waylon didn't pass by their house, he took a left and circled around, and as they did so, they passed by the suspicious man Alyssa noticed before. Again, she watched him like a hawk, but doing so made her realize that the man was occasionally looking in other directions as well, and now he was laughing on the phone too. Her mind told her that she had been imagining the danger, and she wanted to believe it. There was no way to prove it, however, so she settled for relaxing as they put more and more distance between themselves and the man.

When they were farther away from the house, Alyssa glanced back in its direction and bit her lip when she spotted the faint but increasingly visible smoke rising from the area. She turned her head forward quickly and glanced at Waylon. The man turned to her briefly and she discreetly signaled with her eyes and a head motion towards the back. He angled the rear view mirror and upon seeing the rising smoke himself, he quickly took a turn so that the rear view became blocked by a taller building.

It was just in time, too, as moments later, Sam, in his childlike spontaneity, had turned around in the seat and casually looked through the back window, and Alex had turned too, in order to put his brother back safely behind the seat belt. Lisa noticed the behavior of her husband and the girl, but she didn't dare look behind. It wasn't long until they reached the border of the small town, and just as they passed by a hotel, Waylon spoke up

"Alright, it's gonna be a long while till we're out of Colorado, but first we need to find a place to crash, before I pass out at the wheel and-"

"Waylon." Lisa interrupted him, believing he was going to make a joke about crashing the car in front of the children.

"…And pull over to take a nap, _honey_. But I'd much rather prefer a room. With walls to hide from sniper fire.."

"Waylon!" his wife interjected again, slightly raising her voice.

Alyssa smiled discreetly, glad that the atmosphere was starting to be less somber enough that the man was cracking jokes, albeit dark jokes

"Have to agree on that, Mr. Park. Although as exhausted as I am, I'm really not looking forward to nightmares again.. I hope you won't suffer the same when you finally sleep."

Waylon raised a hand from the steering wheel to wave it dismissively "No worries, I'm far too drained to be bothered by nasty dreams, good luck waking me up after I crash. And call me Waylon already."

"Ah, yes, that.. Do you really think it's a good idea for you to drive in this state? I would do it but I'm in the same boat myself. What about Lisa?"

"I can drive, but I don't have a driver's license. I could still do it, though." Lisa interjected

Her husband rubbed his eyes briefly and yawned but remained as focused on the road as he could "Yeah, so we have to choose between risking to get busted for you driving us without a license and having our names fresh on the police record, or me driving."

Alyssa exhaled softly and glanced out the window while the others continued conversing. Taking the old phone out of her pocket, she turned it on and saw that it was past nine in the morning. She buttoned the phone for a minute with some sense of nostalgia, the last time she checked out a device like it was when she was a child. The thought quickly brought a very important realization to her mind, she must have reacted physically, because Lisa asked

"You okay?"

"I.. just realized, if my parents try to call me, they won't be able to because my phone is disassembled, and if they can't contact me, they might come to my house, they'll see I'm not there and most likely go to the police and report me missing!"

Waylon gave her a quick concerned look "Shit, that's no good, really bad time to add your name to a public record, attracts attention."

"Exactly! A-and the things I left behind at Mount Massive, they're not much by themselves, but things like this can add up quickly and Murkoff could use them to identify me!" Alyssa spoke with obvious concern and fear in her voice

"Don't stress it, we just need to get farther away from Leadville first, then we'll stop at a motel to recharge our batteries and you can call your parents. You'll have to be really quick though, I know it will be hard, but you'll have to tell them as much as you think is safe and as fast as possible, just enough to not make them worry too much and not report you as missing." Waylon advised, and Alyssa's hand rose to her temple in worry.

It took her a few thoughtful moments to answer "Yes.. that sounds good, I'll prepare for it, thank you." The man nodded, and continued speaking to his wife.

Alyssa quietly stared out the window, but her thoughts began trying to formulate the quickest way to tell her parents what was happening and what they shouldn't do no matter what. It wasn't easy, not only because the time window was small and there were so many things to say, but she was getting emotional even imagining herself doing it and hearing her family's voices again, she didn't want to think how she'd fare when the time came to actually do it.

After a semi-successful plan and getting distracted by her emotions too many times, she decided to leave it be for the time, and improve upon it later, she didn't want to risk starting to cry in the car, Waylon and Lisa knew the grave situation they were all in, she figured they didn't need her getting the atmosphere more depressing and making everyone feel worse.

Glancing back, she noticed Sam playing with Peanut, petting the cat from nose to tip of the tail then flipping him over in his lap and doing the same. The boy's playfulness combined with the cat's lazy expression and fluid-like body as it was moved by the child alleviated some of Alyssa's somber mood without even really realizing it. When she noticed a smile creep on her face, she reminded herself how important it was to remain safe and do everything within their power to avoid Murkoff, she didn't even want to imagine the children without their parents, or worse.

She leaned back in the seat and briefly closed her eyes. For a moment, she wanted to put on some music, but quickly remembered she didn't have her earphones, and more importantly, she couldn't turn on her phone, at least not the one with music on it. She didn't even want to open her eyes, the exhaustion was making it increasingly difficult to remain awake, but she didn't want to fall asleep in the car for various reasons, mainly because she didn't feel safe enough, especially with Waylon in his equally drained state driving the car, and she also didn't feel it was okay that she would get to rest while he didn't.

So she lifted her eyelids with difficulty, and the side view mirror immediately caught her attention. A slight involuntary frown grew on her face upon seeing the mountains in the distance, as the sight was instantly followed by the horrific memories. A few disturbing images began flashing through her mind, but she shook her head in an attempt to push them away and rubbed her eyes, regaining some of what was left of her awareness and focus.

Taking in a deep breath, she allowed the pleasant small chat of the others to run in the background of her mind, the sounds along with the slightly swaying motion of the car only making her more relaxed and sleepy. She did her best to keep her eyes open, staring around and out the windows, when she began noticing something odd in her vision. The air inside the car seemed almost fuzzy, as if what she was seeing was displayed on a TV screen, but the channel was not completely clear.

 _Static?.. Am I losing my mind? Or my eyesight?_

She rubbed her eyes in the hopes of clearing her vision, yet it remained the same. For a moment, she considered asking the others if they could see anything, but decided against it, just in case they could but weren't noticing it, and she didn't want to make them notice and get scared.

 _No.. it's him. It must be him._

A memory flashed through her mind of a patient she saw back at the asylum, kneeling in prayer in front of a TV whose screen only displayed static and white noise, along with Father Martin's notes.

 _The gospel of sand…_ A cold chill snapped her out of the nothingness she was staring in and she rubbed her arms briefly to stop the crawling feeling of her skin as she recalled the strange preacher, his cult, and her even stranger feelings.

She had never considered herself to have any sort of extrasensory perception, she couldn't recall seeing ghosts or anything of the sort as a child, so she couldn't explain the way she could sense the Walrider's presence. What unsettled her more than the lack of an explanation for this alien ability, was the way she felt when she couldn't sense his presence.

As deeply frightening as she found the swarm, she very much wished to avoid that sense of lack, and that puzzled her so much, she hadn't the slightest idea why, a rational mind should definitely be relieved that the volatile entity was not nearby, that much she understood, yet it wasn't her case. It made her consider the possibility that she was somehow losing her mind, at least the rational part of it.

During the short time when he had been gone earlier, she had had to make an effort to not panic, but she told herself that it could be explained away by her hopes of him actually helping them to stay out of Murkoff's sights. However, that didn't explain the increasing sense of disconnection that was threatening to overwhelm her if it went on much longer.

 _Yes. Disconnection, that's it!_ Now she could at least find a word that described her unsettling and irrational feelings, although it wasn't completely accurate, she momentarily doubted there even were human words to pinpoint it.

 _I.. want to talk to you._ She really did, as intimidated as she was to even look at him, she really wanted to know more about him. _We haven't really.. had the chance._

Her exhausted mind was finding it difficult to formulate clear thoughts, but she waited.

A few long seconds, then half a minute.

 _Do you even want to talk to me?.._

Another long pause.

 _Or.. you can't hear me, can you? I can't speak in your head like you can speak in mine.._

"Alyssa?" Her jolt was barely noticeable, she blinked then looked at Waylon who called her name "You alright? You were, uh.. I don't know, staring at nothing for a while." The man spoke keeping his eyes on the road

"Wh.. I was? I'm sorry, I feel strange.. I'll be fine once I get some rest." She ran a hand down her face in an attempt to regain some awareness. Upon going over her recent thoughts, her logical mind began scolding her on the potential dangers of what she was doing, but at that point she couldn't tell if she wasn't thinking right anymore or if it was just her mental filters going down, both due to the exhaustion.

She leaned forward, away from the backrest, to make it more difficult to fall asleep, and stretched her neck and back, but instead of feeling some relief, she was jolted by a wave of pain that lingered for a few seconds. Hissing in discomfort, she leaned back down and allowed her abdominal muscles to relax and ease the ache, clearly they were not fully healed yet

"Mr.-.. How are your wounds, Waylon?" she asked when the man glanced her way after hearing her reaction

"Oh, I'm fine, I took some painkillers and bandaged up good. How about you? I'm not the one that took bullets to the chest."

Alyssa raised a hand to her abdomen, she was almost tempted to poke a wound through her blouse to see how bad it was, but the fear of pain and making it worse discouraged her

"It still hurts when I stretch the muscles too hard.. But I think I'll be fine, I won't take anymore pills, just need some rest."

"Tell me about it…" The man's words faded and he continued driving in relative silence.

Glancing down at her right thigh, she noticed her wound had closed slightly more, and couldn't not notice the blackness inside it. Fortunately, it was only visible up-close, because to virtually anyone else, it could easily look like an infection, not many thousands of microscopic robots stitching her flesh back together. She momentarily wondered how ugly the scars left behind both on her leg and abdomen would be, but quickly dismissed the thought, figuring it was far better to be alive with some flawed skin than dead in some remote laboratory under the mountains.

She sighed softly and leaned her head back, still finding it difficult to keep her eyes open, her blinks becoming seconds-long periods of allowing her eyelids to rest instead. Wherever the closest motel was, she really wished it was closer, as a soft bed seemed heavenly.

As she battled to keep sleep at bay and hold onto what little was left of her awareness and focus, her senses were forcefully knocked back up to the maximum in the next seconds. A sharp sting dug into her chest when the seat belt dug into her wounded skin and the loud sound of tires screeching on the concrete pierced everyone's ears.

"Fuck!" Waylon couldn't contain his frustration and slammed his palm on the steering wheel

Trying to calm her racing heart, Alyssa looked ahead at the car that passed by only inches away from hers and would have made high speed contact if Waylon hadn't applied the brakes fast enough, but which could have also been completely avoided in the proper manner if his attention hadn't slipped.

"Oh my god, is everyone okay?!" Lisa spoke frantically checking on her children, who were safely next to her behind their seat belts then glanced to her husband and the girl.

"We're fine.. but this guy isn't, apparently." Alyssa said when she noticed the man in the car ahead quickly exit his vehicle and approach theirs, his body language clearly indicating anger

"What the fuck is your problem, pal?!" The man shouted from several few feet away glaring at the driver, who briefly brought his palm to his face then sighed heavily as he looked at the man, it was obvious judging by Waylon's tone that he was struggling to remain polite

"Sorry, _pal_ , I've had a rough day."

As the man started his furious and rude reply, Waylon squeezed the steering wheel and mumbled "I don't have time for this shit.."

Without warning, he swerved hard and sped past the man, who quickly stepped to the side and shouted from behind

"It's morons like you that kill their own families and others on the road!"

"Ugh, bastard.." Alyssa whispered to herself, bothered both by the stranger's words, especially considering the situation they were in, and the fearful expression he caused on Sam's face as he hugged Peanut tighter in his arms while his mother tried to comfort him.

"No, Waylon, we're not doing this, you have to pull over." Lisa said in a stern tone

"Absolutely not, do you want him to call the police on us, or for me to get in a brawl with him? Cause one or both are gonna happen if I stop for him now." Waylon cussed under his breath

"No, not that, you just have to let me drive! We can't risk this again."

The man shook his head lightly and exhaled heavily, but ignored the woman. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, he interrupted "Fine, fine! Just let me put some distance between.."

He glanced back and drove for a few seconds longer, then slowed down and pulled over.

"How far away are we from the motel?" Lisa asked as she exited the car and her husband slowly rose from his seat, considerate of his still injured leg and the stab wound, then squeezed in the back next to the kids while she sat in the driver's seat and put her belt on, quickly signaling for him to do the same.

The man hesitantly complied "Twenty minutes at most.. And the road's fairly straight down south, so you don't have to turn much.."

The woman let out an amused exhale and spoke casually as she accelerated "Hey, just because I never found the time to get a license it doesn't mean I can't drive, don't patronize me."

"Oh I trust your driving skills honey, but the cops don't, that's our little problem.." Now that he was freed from the task of keeping everyone safe on the road, Waylon sounded even more exhausted.

Alyssa flashed a small smile at their playful bickering "Sorry that you have to do this Mrs. Park, I-"

"-Liiiisa" The woman interjected with a smile of her own

"Ah, right. Sorry you have to do this Lisa, once I get some sleep I'll take the wheel and you guys can relax."

"Ha. Relax…" The woman spoke semi-seriously, and Alyssa bit her lip in understanding. There was no relaxing, they'd have to look over their shoulders for a long time.

She glanced back at Waylon, who stretched his arm over the top of the seat's backrest to occupy less space "As tired as I am.. Is it really safe to stop at a motel, Waylon?"

The man opened his eyes fully, as his eyelids were drooping "Huh? Oh.. Well, even if Murkoff are already in Leadville as we speak, they don't know which direction we went in. There are many places we could stop at in the area, it would take them a while to search.. And we have to rest sooner or later, we either go to a motel, or we sleep in the car, let our guards down, and leave Lisa alone with the kids."

Alyssa swallowed and gave a nod in response, the man's words made sense, at least she didn't have any better ideas, but she still couldn't help her worries.

Fortunately, they approached the small town without further complications.

"Alright, this is Buena Vista. We'll rent a room or two and leave in.. Hell, I think I need to sleep for a day, we'll see." Waylon spoke suppressing a yawn.

Lisa slowed down as they drove past a gas station and convenience store "We should buy some food for the road, just in case. Do you want me to go shopping while you guys are sleeping?"

Waylon seemed thoughtful for a few moments "No.. too dangerous, we need to stick together. But food and water sounds like a good idea. Just wait for me to wake up then we all go."

"I'll do it after I get some sleep Mr. Park, keep your wife and children close." Alyssa suddenly interjected in a casual tone without turning to the man. Before he could protest, she spoke again "Please. I'll be fine, trust me, just watch over your family."

She noticed in the rear view mirror the frown fade from his face in understanding "Thanks… Alright then! Let's find a place to crash."

They drove around the small town for a few minutes, finding several places "That lodge looks nice, honey." Lisa said glancing at a group of wooden cabins on a spot of green grass. It looked friendly and inviting enough, but Waylon looked around suspiciously

"Looks pretty yeah, but too flimsy. Think we're better off between sturdier walls and many other rooms. Let's go back to that inn up north."

Lisa shrugged and complied, carefully turning the car around. Reaching the inn parking lot, she chose a spot close to the entrance and Alyssa glanced at the long two story building. She couldn't say it looked like a safe haven, but all she knew was that inside it was a bed waiting for her, and at that point she was so tired that sleep was taking priority over paranoia.

"Alyssa, get that laptop, this place has free Wi-Fi and we need to check on things." Waylon spoke as he exited the car and waited for the boys to do the same. She swallowed with apprehension but took the device and stepped out of the car.

 _Please, for the love of god, be still online.._

After taking some baggage and locking the car, they walked through the mostly empty parking lot until they reached the entrance and stepped up to the reception desk where an old woman was reading a newspaper. As Waylon paid for two rooms, Alyssa couldn't help discreetly glancing at the newspaper, hoping to see anything about a fresh Murkoff scandal on the basis of their footage.

 _Celebrity crap, politician affair, big highway accident, more celebrity crap.. Dammit, nothing. Nothing yet…_

"Come on, the rooms are next to each other, the boys and I will sleep in one and the girls in the other." Waylon spoke and they walked up the stairs then down the long hallway. The sight of it, with many doors on the sides, inspired mixed feelings in Alyssa, on one hand, it was good that they were so numerous, it gave her a sense of being better hidden, on the other hand, it reminded her too much of the asylum.

Suppressing a small shudder, she stopped the memories when Waylon spoke up "Everyone come in here for a minute." The room was modest but comfortable enough, moderate in size, a window with curtains on the wall ahead, two beds on the right separated by a bed stand with a lamp, a desk near the left close corner, followed by a wardrobe and an armchair in the far left corner.

Sam put Peanut on the bed then climbed on it himself and started bouncing lightly, Alex went to the window while buttoning his phone, while Lisa put a suitcase next to the bed and Alyssa gently placed the laptop on the desk. Waylon angled it away, towards the door, and muted the volume, then turned the device on.

Her heart was beginning to thump faster in anticipation and the man waited somewhat impatiently for a long minute. After running a few security measures to be as safe as possible, he connected to the internet and browsed to the site where he last uploaded their footage. Alyssa's hand rose to her mouth in anxiety, she wanted to question him urgently, but calmed herself for a few more seconds.

After double checking that he made no mistake in his search, Waylon's frown deepened and he whispered between his teeth

"It's gone..."

Alyssa felt like she had been stabbed in the heart, she exhaled somberly and her hand dropped limp at her side. So this was how it was going to go, all their work, the wounds, sweat, pain, blood, the mental and emotional torture she'd suffered through and the multiple times she nearly died, all to get that evidence, and now it was going to keep being erased from the web over and over thanks to Murkoff's connections and their army of shills. It felt like another nail in her coffin.

"But.." her attention was brought out of the growing sense of desperation as he continued "It's not? What is.. Holy shit, I think people mirrored it!"

"What?!" she quickly whispered, unable to contain a smile and rushed next to him to glance at the screen

"Yeah, look!" his tone had also drastically changed into optimistic excitement as he pointed at the display

Alyssa couldn't believe her eyes when he scrolled down and she saw the numerous videos thumbnails on the side of the screen, each with tens of thousands of views, some with hundreds of thousands, most of them labeled as new:

 _"MURKOFF EXPOSED! Horrific human experiments caught on camera! MUST WATCH!"_

 _"WATCH THIS BEFORE THEY TAKE IT DOWN! Murkoff illegal operations exposed, torture caught on film!"_

 _"Footage of MURKOFF VICTIMS this video is being censored, WATCH DOWNLOAD AND SPREAD IT!"_

Upon reading the titles, she was so happy and relieved she wanted to cry. She didn't, but she couldn't help her eyes watering as she grinned from ear to ear and looked at Waylon who had a similar expression on his face.

"Honey! Honey it's up, it's still up, the bastards kept trying to take it down but people downloaded and spread the hell out of it!"

Lisa's confused expression quickly turned into a wide smile and she rushed to hug her husband tightly

"Thank god!.. At least now people know."

"We shouldn't stay online for long though, we'll check for news later." Waylon quickly disconnected the laptop from the internet and shut it down then exchanged a cheerful high-five with Alyssa

"Alright! This is great news, needless to say, but I have to be the bringer of bad news and remind everyone that we're not out of the woods yet, we still need to keep our eyes open. _But_ , like Lisa said, it's a huge relief and step forward that people know now, and hopefully it will keep spreading like wild fire." Alyssa said, for a few moments forgetting her exhaustion in the excitement, but it all came back as she calmed down.

"Damn right. If people had any doubts that Murkoff are scum that belong in prison, now they have all the proof, thanks to us risking our necks." Waylon stepped away and Alyssa smiled slightly when he crashed on the nearest bed next to Sam, his weight making the cat hop off the mattress a few inches.

Lisa laughed briefly and walked up to the door "I'll take the other key and lock you guys in and come pick up the boys in a bit." She didn't wait for the man to answer, unsure if he had already fallen asleep, and left the room with Alyssa.

"Guess it's your turn to crash, huh?" The woman spoke jokingly and twisted the key in the lock then placed it in her purse.

"If it's not too much to ask for…" she replied in a similar tone and raised her arms up to stretch, but quickly stopped and lowered them, remembering the pain from last time.

"Here we are then, just next door." The woman unlocked the door a few meters down the hall and handed her the other key. Unsurprisingly, the room was identical to the one they just left.

A soft pleased sigh escaped Alyssa's lips when she spotted the tall bed near the corner of the room. It was bright outside, with barely any clouds, and the sunlight pierced easily through the light blue curtains, but she couldn't complain, it was a soft bed in a semi-secure room among many others after she'd just found out that the video evidence she nearly died multiple times to acquire had remained on the web and was attracting a lot of attention. Things were finally looking up, for a change.


	16. Chapter 16

She began taking small steps towards the bed, unable to not notice the minor pain lingering in her thigh as she put pressure on her right leg. Just as she prepared to lay down, the armchair from the other side of the room was suddenly dragged across the floor by an invisible force and twisted around to rest near the corner next to the bed.

The sudden movement made her jump, but she quickly relaxed, unlike Lisa, who screamed briefly but loudly and rushed to the door. She ignored the woman's outburst, instead, she spoke calmly with a small tired smile towards the entity in the room

"Hey."

"Alyssa!.." The woman called out to her in an urgent whisper, her hand tense on the door knob, eyes wide and darting around the room while her face displayed a mix of fear and confusion.

"It's okay, Mrs. Park.." she glanced over her shoulder and tried to calm her, but the woman shook her head quickly, clutched the crucifix around her neck in her hand and stepped out of the room.

"I'm sorry, I just can't-.. You'll be safe?" she spoke from behind the half closed door with a quiver in her voice

"Yes.. I believe so. Don't worry, go get the kids and stick around, don't go far." She couldn't see the woman nod before she closed and locked the door.

She leaned her head back and stretched her neck until she heard and felt a relieving small pop then glanced in the empty armchair on the other side of the bed, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"I.. wanted to talk to you." She felt a tiny bit of energy return to her, but began taking the old and new phone along with her wallet and room key out of her pocket and placing them on the bed stand.

"You need to sleep, human." The Walrider's voice was lower than usual, but neutral, she ran her hand down the side of her arm when she felt a few hairs begin to rise, but pushed away the feeling, she wanted to at least try to not be so scared anymore.

"I know.. even if I didn't want to, don't think I have much of a choice, felt like I was gonna pass out for a while. And my name is Alyssa..."

She spoke her last sentence with a sliver of frustration, but silence followed her words, and before she laid down, she decided to check on her wounds again, the ones that she couldn't see in the car. Gently raising her blouse to below her chest, she glanced down and felt a bit dizzy, not due to the sight, as the wounds seemed more closed than before, she chalked up the lightheadedness to the exhaustion and stress.

"When will it stop hurting?" she asked while hovering a finger over one nearly closed bullet hole

"Two days."

She exhaled softly and sat on the edge of the bed "Thank you" Lifting her leg gently, she began taking off her boots "You saved my life, twice" She placed them at the foot of the bed "I.. understand why. I think. Still, I'm grateful regardless.."

Laying her back down on the bed felt heavenly comfortable, she finally had the opportunity to get the much needed rest she required for so long, yet she found herself hesitant, instead, she wanted to keep talking

"But I'd like to know more about you.."

Closing her eyes, she did her best to suppress her fear when a deep low exhale came from the side of her bed, she couldn't shake the eerie otherworldly sound of it

"Billy would not stop pestering me with his hectic thoughts. Do you plan to replace them with your own prattle?"

Alyssa bit her lip lightly, she didn't want to bother him, but at the same time, she really wanted more information.

"N-no, not at all. But, now that you mention it, I wanted to ask.. So Billy could speak telepathically to you?" She waited with curious wide eyes aimed vaguely at the side of her bed where she assumed he was.

"'Speaking' is a stretch. His broken mind was a near constant mad ramble, in part due to the chemical cocktails administered to him on a regular basis. Complete coherent thoughts were rare."

She blinked in surprise "Poor thing... I can't imagine what they did to him. But.. how can you do it? Why can I hear you in my head? Can I ever talk to you like that?"

Hoping that she wouldn't get a bad response, she slowly turned on her side towards the window and waited eagerly. It wasn't a pleasant position, she felt her healing but still damaged abdominal muscles squeeze and ache, so she gently flipped over on her stomach and turned her head to the side towards the seemingly empty armchair.

"Your consciousness is far inferior to mine, human, what you call telepathy is second nature to me. Not impossible to you, but nigh."

Her mouth opened a little before she spoke "Oh.. well damn. Thanks for not _completely_ crushing my hopes, I guess.." Afraid of overstepping her boundaries even though she spoke only semi-seriously, she quickly decided to change the subject, and a question that had been lurking in the back of her mind sprang to the surface. She was hesitant to ask it, because she feared the answer, but she needed to know. She swallowed and spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper

"Can they hurt you?.."

She tensed up noticeably when he answered rather quickly

"Yes."

As her mind started racing with dangerous scenarios, she wanted to ask for details, but listened carefully when he continued "Nano-robots can be temporarily or permanently disabled by electromagnetic pulse blasts. A powerful enough EMP would terminate all of my nanites."

"Murkoff has that?.." She asked, but it was more of a statement, which she followed moments later "But, what happens if they disable your nanites? Do you die?" she couldn't suppress the urgency in her voice, she lifted her upper body off the bed and cringed at the mild pain in her abdomen, but watched the empty space next to her bed with some anxiety and a tinge of sadness. She blinked in confusion when she could have sworn she felt a sliver of surprise that hadn't come from herself

"No, but the lack of nanites does leave us defenseless. Until you manufacture more, that is."

Now she was really confused, briefly suspecting that he had suddenly gained a sense of humor and was pulling her leg, her eyebrow raised as she stared into the emptiness trying to process his words

"I.. manufacture more? Me? Well, I hate to disappoint, but I'm afraid I'm not a.. nanotechnology scientist or nanobot making machine, I'm not able to make one robot, let alone millions of microscopic ones or whatever."

A slight frown grew on her face when she thought she felt a fading sense of amusement, but then both herself and her heart jumped when the spot in front of her quickly became blurry, darkened and formed the shape of a nearly pitch-black tall skeleton with empty eye sockets gazing down at her.

Her eyes widened and she swallowed trying to calm her fears and thumping heart, but found herself unable to look away, and only blinked when he spoke

"But that is exactly what you have become, human. You birth the machines from your flesh, our matching frequencies have brought your cells to this point, transmuting them into nanofactories, producing the precise molecules necessary for the microscopic development of these machines. You witnessed the failed experiments in the asylum, the patients, the effects of being off target, too much disparity and your body becomes riddled with tumors, your cells divide erratically, your brain hemorrhages with lead." Her increasingly distraught mind was so absorbed into trying to process and understand his words that she didn't flinch when he leaned over "Not millions of nanites, billions. Spawning from your organs, your bones, your skin, any living tissue you have is manufacturing them as we speak."

When he noticed the terrified expression grow on her face, he grabbed her wrist and angled it towards her gaze. Before she could protest, her jaw dropped and began trembling when she watched horrified how, within the span of a few seconds, all the veins under the skin of her wrist and palm began to darken significantly until they were almost black. His words were the last straw "I'm flowing through your veins, human."

She screamed and squirmed to get away, he released her wrist and she quickly scrambled to the other side of the bed. With her back turned, she brought her knees to her chest and scratched at her wrist, inside which the nanites had already dissipated and returned the veins to their normal color, and she covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut while trying to ease the deeply unsettling feeling that overwhelmed her.

She almost regretted asking him about it, even though she knew there were nanites inside her body for a while, she thought there were merely a relatively small number of them inside her wounds healing her. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she was some sort of living factory for billions of microscopic robots that came out of her while she was both oblivious to it and unwilling.

All the horrific side-effects he mentioned and saw herself on the patients experimented on in the asylum were only escalating her concerns and perturbed state of mind. Slowly raising a quivering hand in front of her face, she glanced at it in silence, and as much as she disliked the thought, she couldn't help admitting that she felt somewhat inhuman now. She nearly choked at the word, it was all too much to handle.

 _What kind of creature makes robots inside it?.._

When she found her voice again, she couldn't keep it stable "C-could that happen to me?.. The tumors and..."

"No. If it was meant to, it would have already started."

She breathed a small sigh of relief, but the rest of his words weren't allowing her peace, she remained silent in an attempt to find some sort of solace in her mind for herself

"You wanted information…" his voice was low and calm, but still startled her

Alyssa swallowed and wiped her watering eyes, then took a minute trying to recompose herself. When she turned around, he was leaning against the wall with his skeletal arms crossed

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. react like that. It's just.." a shudder went down her spine "I had no idea it was.." her words faded and were replaced with a deep exhale.

"Perhaps I should not have told you." He stated plainly.

After a few moments of thought, she shook her head slowly "No… I needed to know. Sooner or later, I had to know everything. No matter how harsh the truth is, I always want to know it. I'd never want to live a lie."

She threw a quick glance at him when he cocked his skull to the side "Ignorance is bliss." His voice had a questioning tone, and Alyssa picked up that he was inquiring about the human saying.

"It may be, but only for cowards, as far as I'm concerned.. I know I'm not the bravest one around, to say the least, but I fear for my life. I'll never fear the truth.. Besides, there's no bliss for us with Murkoff after our heads. But I've made my decisions, now I have to live with them." She rolled on her back again and suppressed a chill at the thought refusing to give her peace, the understanding that as she laid there, there were microscopic robots being made inside her and coming out of her body.

In a way, she almost felt infected, living with a virus inside her body. A frown grew on her face at the comparison, and she pushed it away, she didn't want to think of it that way, it didn't sit right with her for some reason.

 _It's not.. No. Viruses don't save your life._

Allowing her mind to drift to other things, she quickly recalled the working phone on the bed stand.

 _I could.. but should I? I don't know if I feel comfortable making a call, even a short one from such a phone, then falling asleep.. Think it's best to wait until right before we leave._ Speaking to her parents was going to be a difficult thing for multiple reasons, but she told herself she was delaying it mostly for safety.

"Walrider?.." she whispered, her voice barely audible. His gaze drifted down on her, and, although her eyes were closed, she somehow understood she had his attention "Where did you come from?"

After a few seconds of silence, she raised her eyelids with difficulty and noticed more nanites gathering to the skeleton, settling themselves in position until they formed his usual shape, but still displaying bones at the hands and feet. He stepped towards the armchair next to her and sat down but leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs

"What do you care?" His voice was rougher than usual, but Alyssa kept hers soft

"I... learned what it's like to be away from home. Forced to be away from my loved ones.. I don't like it. I want to go home. But I can't.. But can you? Maybe I could help you. I don't want to sound selfish, but.. it would make me feel better. No one deserves to be separated from their home."

If the Walrider had a face, he would have frowned at her words, he wondered if she was becoming delirious due to her exhaustion and refusal to rest, or if it was some consequence of being a host that he was unaware of. Even though those explanations would make more sense to him, he knew they weren't accurate, and he knew she wasn't lying. She didn't know that he could tell if she tried to lie to him, and he decided that she didn't need to know, but still, he couldn't remember the last time he was this confused about a human's words. He had to admit it was somewhat intriguing, so he chose to indulge her.

Alyssa watched quietly as his gaze rose from the floor and he leaned back in the armchair before speaking

"I came through the gateway. The humans that opened it believed me a demon from hell. Superstition or delusion, I didn't know, I let them believe whatever. Don't bother asking, I know little of the gateway, my memory of that time is faulty. But there is one human who knows.. he supervised the project. Wernicke."

Her tired eyes opened wider at the familiar name and she whispered with interest and surprise "Wernicke? Isn't he dead?"

"No. He escaped while I was in the midst of simultaneously eliminating that group of mercenaries and keeping you from dying."

Alyssa swallowed at the painful memories of being shot multiple times and knocking on death's door, the image of the bright red pool of blood spreading underneath her body far too disturbingly fresh in her mind. She tried to push it away with a remark that others might have thought to be in poor taste, but considering the man's actions, she didn't feel bad

"Wait, isn't he dirt old already, like 95 or something? He might kick the bucket pretty fast."

The Walrider waved a hand dismissively "He will die soon. Billy was keeping him alive, without the nanites regenerating his cells, he has months to live."

She frowned slightly at his words "But.. you said he's the one that knows how you got here? Is he the only one with information about that gateway?"

The genuine concern in the human he found increasingly unusual gave him pause, but he answered her "The only one that I know of…"

Her eyes widened and she suddenly sprang up "Then we have to find him! Before he either croaks or takes a plane to the other side of the worl-ahh!" She hissed in pain and lied back down, regretting her abrupt movement.

In another life, the Walrider would have laughed at her display of naivety and recklessness. There was one more accurate word, but he was hesitant to use it. Selflessness? It was not a very familiar concept.

"The only thing you need to do is sleep, human. You've wasted enough time and energy."

Alyssa pouted discreetly, but she had to admit her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Satisfied with the answers she received, she decided to give in and finally get some much needed rest.

Mindful of her wounds, she carefully rolled over on her side after noticing that he wasn't going to vanish again, but this time she found it less unsettling. Glancing at her wrist did rile up a few nerves, the fact that his nanites were flowing through her veins, being created inside her cells then exiting her body was a very difficult thing to get used to and she suppressed a gasp when a note from the asylum suddenly came back to mind.

' _My blood is filled with you and waiting to be set free…' Oh my god, so the patients knew about this? Father Martin knew?_

She quickly shook away the memory of that man before the unbearable fiery ones forced their way into her mind again. A deep sigh left her lips, apprehensively aware of the nightmares that were going to come soon, but she couldn't afford not sleeping, she had to deal with them and get the much needed rest her body and mind longed for.

Before she drifted off, she whispered a "Good night" to the entity in the room, she figured he didn't sleep, but found it a bit rude to not say anything after their talk, and within a minute of relaxation, she fell into deep sleep.

* * *

By the time they reached the house in question, it was mostly a burnt down pile of charred wood and black ash. The firefighters had already contained the situation and extinguished the fire, which left very little behind. They could already tell investigation was going to be extremely difficult, if at all possible.

A few police officers were standing on the sidewalk, speaking to the few people around, searching for any witnesses or clues, everyone was surprised and confused by the sudden incident in their quiet small town.

Pauline pulled over, exited the black car and approached the scene, it was not difficult for Murkoff agents to get the local police to grant them temporary access

"Looks like the whistleblower wasn't fucking around about disappearing. Doubt we'll find a lead in this mess."

"Yeah.. Couldn't have gotten far though, didn't they say he left pretty screwed up?" Her partner, Paul, questioned, lightly kicking away a small piece of burnt wood through the ashes

"Apparently. The search units are loose, we'll find Waylon, eventually, he can't run forever." The short haired woman spoke casually with a shrug

"But?" the chubby blond man crouched down and ran his hand through a pile of ash

"Yeah, but. But Murkoff's got bigger problems. We can diminish Park's credibility, winning over judges is gonna be tricky this time, they might need some.. encouragement. But still, none of that is gonna help us bring that.. _thing_ back into containment."

The man paused and threw her a brief look "Do you know what it is?"

"Maybe."

"Would you tell me if you knew?"

"Nope."

"Thought so…" his fingers stumbled over a square flat object that he pulled from a pile and lightly shook to clear away the black ashes

"What'd you find?" the woman stepped closer as her partner stood up holding a half burnt frame with a photo behind a broken glass piece

"Family portrait. I hate it when they have families.." He dropped the object back into the pile of ash after she glanced at it

"Don't be like that, when did Murkoff ever hurt women and children?" Pauline said jokingly with a smirk that faded quickly when her partner gave her a frown and looked away "Alright, sorry, that was in bad taste."

Paul dusted off his hands of ash "So what about that jacket they found?"

"It's interesting, doesn't belong to any staff member, and obviously not something patients wear. Or fit into."

"Where does that bring us?"

The woman crossed her arms and shrugged lightly "To new leads, soon. They're working on it."


	17. Chapter 17

Alyssa would have thought her subconscious mind was being merciful, as she didn't have nightmares for the time being. Such luck lasted about twelve hours though, and after that, she once again found herself lightly whimpering in her sleep while the painful memories were being replayed in her brain, this time accompanied by images of her own family being endangered due to her actions. As if the overwhelming feelings of being trapped and defenseless with the threat of death behind every corner amplified by her distressed mind weren't enough, now a layer of deep guilt was added on top.

After one particularly graphic scene, she was so disturbed that she abruptly woke herself up with a short scream. Opening her eyes, she was momentarily confused to find herself in darkness, but then remembered where she was, and reached for the lamp next to the bed.

The small light illuminated the room enough to let her know that she was alone, but she breathed a small sigh of relief both when she recalled that she was safe and also likely not as alone as the unknowing observer would assume.

"Are you still here? How long have I been out?" she spoke after a small yawn and raised her upper body off the bed

"Twelve hours." The Walrider's disembodied voice replied

She stretched her legs carefully but avoided doing the same with her back, recalling the pain that had caused before.

Reaching for her boots, she paused briefly "Hold on a minute, don't tell me you waited here for twelve hours?" she glanced around the room, but he had not made a physical presence that she could see

A few moments later, he sounded somewhat hesitant "I have been.. nearby." It was as if he could see her barely noticeable smile even in the low light, as he suddenly continued in a much harsher tone "Your survival is linked to mine, human, I cannot afford leaving and having you get yourself killed."

Her smile quickly faded and she bit her lip lightly "Right… right." Unsure why she felt the slightest bit bothered, she chalked it up to his rude manner of speech.

 _Relax, hell, I should be grateful…_

Pocketing her wallet, phones and room key, she stood up and took a moment to stabilize herself, her body feeling stiff after sleeping for so long, plus a mild lightheadedness that faded within several seconds.

Before she left, she walked up to the window and pulled the curtains to see outside, it was dark, but some people were walking around and many lights from stores and other buildings were still on. Wondering if Waylon had woken up reminded her that she said she would go do the shopping, so she went to unlock the door.

After she stepped out, she held the door open for a second, then jumped when a force had pushed out of the room and past her with a low whooshing sound, slamming the door hard.

 _Christ!_ Her heart skipped a beat but she tried to ignore the cold chill down her spine and twisted the key in the lock.

She could have sworn she felt something was off from the moment she woke up, it was faint, like a background noise, a fleeting sensation of tension and latent danger. Now she had felt it much clearer, it was only for a brief moment, but enough to make her understand, he was in a bad mood.

 _Great, like he's not threatening enou-_

"Miss? You okay?" she jumped again when an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke. When she looked in the direction it came from, she noticed a man leaning on the doorway of a room several meters away, youngish looking, lanky, wearing only jean overalls, sandals and a backwards cap.

"Didn't mean to scare ya." he said again with a smirk

"Oh, I'm fine. Sorry about the door, must've been the wind." Alyssa spoke beginning to turn around and leave

"Gotta check and make sure you ain't done any damage, these hinges are dam old rusty things. I'm a mechanic y'see, but I'm good at fixin' lots of stuff."

The man's smirk hadn't faded, he stepped towards her and the door, and she stepped back with a nod, both to give him space to work and because she felt uncomfortable being too close to the visibly sweaty and dirty person.

Walking over to the next room, she knocked on the door and waited, hoping Lisa would open and Waylon would be awake by then. Several seconds passed with no answer, and she knocked again, harder. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the mechanic inspect the hinges while throwing glances in her direction. She didn't look at him, and she didn't want to speak Lisa or Waylon's names just in case, so she knocked again.

Much to her relief, she heard a few metallic clicks then the woman opened the door "Crap, sorry, I dozed off a little, come on in." Alyssa flashed a smile and when she walked in, she noticed Waylon was still sleeping while the kids were playing cards out of boredom.

"Just wanted to let you know I'll go get some food like I said. Anything in particular you'd like?"

"Oh, mostly canned stuff, bottled water, some soda for the kids, things for the road. But.. are you really sure it's a good idea? Is it safe? Maybe we should wait for Waylon to wake up and go together." Lisa spoke with a small concerned frown

The younger woman covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawned lightly, her sleepy state hadn't worn off yet, then waved it dismissively "I'll be fine, don't worry." when her words didn't seem to relax the other, she continued "I'm not going alone…"

At first, she gave her a questioning and puzzled look, then her frown deepened in realization. Alyssa sighed softly "Water, soda and cans it is."

But as she turned to leave, she heard Lisa rummage through her purse then place a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, a few bills were placed in her palm "Be careful.."

Not feeling like insisting to pay herself and potentially waking up Waylon with too much talk, she nodded and flashed a smile before leaving. When she exited the room, she was slightly relieved to see the mechanic next door was nowhere to be seen. At first thought it seemed rude, the man was only friendly, so she chalked it up to her paranoia and headed for the inn lobby.

When she walked by the reception desk, she offered a "Good evening" to the old woman behind it, who only briefly rose her eyes from the newspaper to nod before sipping some of her drink.

Exiting the building, she took a deep breath of the fresh country-side night air and couldn't help an appreciative smile, it was so much better than the heavy and polluted atmosphere of the cities. While it had gotten fairly dark, the street lamps and various stores and houses illuminated the environment well enough, the half-moon in the cloudless sky was helping also.

In the nearby parking lot, one large dark blue SUV caught her attention, the vehicle was parked rather close to the inn entrance, but she couldn't see through the heavily tinted windows, especially in the low light of the parking lot.

 _Tsk, isn't tinting like that illegal? I would've used that a long time ago if it wasn't, why does he get away with it?_ Even so, she could notice the dark silhouette of a person moving inside; judging from the figure, it seemed to be a man wearing a ball cap.

Alyssa's glance lingered on the vehicle for a few moments as she walked by, but dismissed it shortly after. Still, she couldn't completely ignore the slight feeling of uneasiness.

 _Ugh,_ _forget it, I just need to get some food then we're out of here._

Finding the grocery store in the small town was relatively quick, she bought a few bottles of water and soda, along with some cans of beans, fish, and anything that was easily packable and storable.

When she returned with the bag of products, she meant to place it in the car, but remembered that she'd left her car keys with Lisa. With a mental slap to the forehead, she rushed back to their room, retrieved her keys, and placed the bag in the back seat of the car.

She nearly smacked her head against the roof of the vehicle when a sudden whistle took her by surprise. Standing up but remaining behind the open door, she glanced in the direction the sound came from to spot the mechanic from earlier.

"What. a. beauty!" the man spoke with a wide smirk on his face, revealing a missing tooth

Alyssa averted her gaze, then the man nodded towards the car. She was about to mumble a thank you for the compliment to her vehicle, when the man spoke again "The car too." His laugh at what he perceived as his own cleverness and steps in her direction made her more than a little uncomfortable, she threw a quick glance around to see the closest person walking away at a distant intersection.

To some small relief, the man stopped at the front of her car and placed his hand down on the hood appreciatively "'s one of them high-powered, four by four, off-road models, ain't it? With the fancy board computers and all?"

He crouched next to a front wheel checking out the custom tires, and she flashed a small but nervous smile "Yes, although I've had most of those features modded in. Plus I've had the computer removed."

Upon seeing the questioning and interested expression on the man's face, she quickly wished she hadn't mentioned that detail.

"Now why'd you do that? Thought them computers was what you city folk liked most about your cars."

Alyssa waved a hand dismissively and tried to appear casual, but she really wanted to leave both the parking lot and the town "It wasn't working right, tried to have it fixed but it was never solved so I got rid of it, better off without it anyway." She lied, and the man placed a hand on the front fender to help himself stand up, leaving a greasy palm print on the slick paint coat.

"Oh? Think I can be of service then, I know a guy who does these smart car computers. How about it? Meet you at the bar down the corner, I'll buy ya a drink and we can talk about it." his wide smirk had returned, accompanied by a wink.

Alyssa was finding it increasingly difficult to hide her frown, and once again she caught a glimpse of the feeling of anger from earlier that was not originating from her. Still, she did her best to remain calm and polite

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I have to leave town very soon. Thank you for the offer, anyway." She walked to the rear of her car and pretended to check if the trunk was properly closed, just so she could go around the vehicle and leave without having to walk close to him.

Much to her chagrin, he also walked to the other side and placed a hand on his hip "Oh c'mon missy, it won't be long, and we'll get you a new computer."

Now her patience was really draining and her concerns rising "My car is fine, sorry, but I really need to meet up with someone and leave." She pulled the phone from her pocket and pretended to press a few buttons. Turning around and walking away from the inn, she heard the man shouting from behind

"What's yer name, then? We can catch up later!"

She ignored the man and only increased her pace down the sidewalk. After she was some distance away, she discreetly glanced over her shoulder to notice him slowly walk back inside the inn. "Goddammit.." she muttered to herself and looked down at the phone.

 _I don't want to have to make a call just to tell them to come outside so we can leave, not for such minor reasons._

Placing her phone back in her pocket, she breathed out with relief when she walked by some brightly lit stores and more people passed by.

 **_We are not leaving._ **

She jumped slightly when the dark gravelly voice spoke in her mind again, she was starting to grow a bit frustrated at herself for getting spooked by it every time. It was a statement, but it also had a questioning tone.

Glancing down another street, she headed in that direction and whispered "We will, soon. I just.. want to get some more fresh air before I get behind the wheel and drive for hours." It wasn't a lie, she did enjoy the crystal clear mountain air, but it wasn't the only reason, and he was well aware of it.

 **_Return to the human. I will strip his flesh from his bones, then you can leave._ **

She wasn't sure if she stumbled over something or her own feet upon hearing his words

"N-no! Don't kill him, it would attract attention. That's the last thing we need right now." Her voice was louder than would be discreet for someone seemingly mumbling to themselves, so she quickly lowered her volume

 **_I appreciate how that is your only concern._ **

"I-.. no, it's not! Just don't kill anyone." She whispered with some worry both for others and herself, she did not mean to imply that she had some sort of authority over him and his actions.

To her relief, she was not sensing that anger from before, and no further voices echoed in her head, so she exhaled deeply and slowed her pace, but continued walking down the nearly empty road, lit only by the street lamps overhead. She felt alone and comfortable enough to stretch her arms over her head, feeling some muscle ache, noticeably less than before, but not comfortable enough to lift up her blouse and have another look at how her injuries were healing.

As a refreshingly chilly gust of wind blew and ruffled a few strands of hair, she appreciated the calm and quiet of the night, it was a tranquil atmosphere, then a saddening realization crossed her mind.

 _I never really took the time to enjoy the peace and safety until they were taken from me…_

The fact that she was approaching a cemetery was not helping her growing pessimistic mood. At first, she felt a mild urge to turn around and return to the inn, her pace slowing further; she swallowed, but on a whim, decided against it and kept walking.

The moderately sized cemetery rested a few feet off the side of the road, surrounded by a partially broken down wooden fence that reached Alyssa's chest. With some hesitation, she approached and gently leaned on the top of the fence, bringing her hands together in a clasp.

Taking in the sight, a shallow sigh left her as her eyes lingered over the graves, tombstones and cement crosses, an empty unused and open grave caught her eye, but she averted her gaze quickly. After a few dead silent moments, she spoke softly

"Just a few days ago, I would avoid cemeteries because I was afraid I would see a ghost. Now I want to avoid them because I'm afraid I won't get the chance to leave… I'm afraid I'm looking at my future home. Funny how life works sometimes…"

She wasn't sure if it was the next gust of wind or something else that had raised a few hairs on the back of her neck.

At first she thought she was truly talking to the air that time, but a few moments later she heard his voice out loud, closer than usual

"You have said before, you made your decisions, and now you will live with them. You regret your decisions?"

Closing her eyes thoughtfully, she exhaled deeply

"No… Not yet. But I wish it had been different. If it had to be someone, I wish it was only me. Waylon and his family don't deserve this."

"And you do?"

"I.. No. But in a way, it's my fault. I was cowardly, for so long. I didn't know exactly what was happening inside, but I knew the situation at the asylum demanded attention, attention that no one was offering. I knew about it for many months, I knew lives were in danger, but I was too scared to do anything. If only I had acted earlier, I would have gotten to the asylum, gotten the evidence, released it, all before Waylon had the chance to do the same and endanger his family."

The Walrider remained quiet and shielded his confusion from reaching her senses. How peculiar, he thought, this human was so different from the ones he was forced to deal with during his captivity, to the point that she was endangering herself instead of inflicting pain upon others. It was an unfamiliar opposite extreme and still clearly unhealthy as far as he was concerned.

"You don't regret it. _Yet_." He spoke emphasizing the last word.

Alyssa nodded slowly "If something happens to my family because of this I will never forgive myself… I have limits. I know, I know they say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, we saved many lives by doing what we did, and our videos are attracting a lot of attention online. Murkoff will go down.. hopefully.. But still.. if my family has to pay the price, I.. I don't know if I could take that. I just wish no one knew they existed so I would be the only target. And I'm tempted to say I would choose their lives over the lives of the many. How selfish is that?"

The depressing aura she was radiating was beginning to bother him, but he was not entirely sure why, he only knew he wanted it to vanish, yet was uncertain what to do about it. When he noticed her gaze lingering over an open empty grave, he spoke slowly

"You will not rest here, human. You will not rest for a long time."

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she lowered her head to rest her forehead on her forearms, gazing down at the dirt and dust below her boots. As heavy as his words were, she knew he was right, rest, real rest where she could relax and forget about all the pain and looming threat of death was not going to be a part of her life for a long time. Even if they managed to evade Murkoff and even flee to another country, she would still have to always look over her shoulder, only the complete annihilation of the corporation would grant her, her family, and the Parks peace.

Her whisper was barely audible and she didn't raise her head

"What have I gotten myself into…" it was less of a question and more of a somber realization as the true gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. What made it worse was the fact that she could see no way out, more than just her life depended on whether or not the massively powerful world-wide corporation would tumble down. It was on the basis of her and Waylon's efforts, but that was all they could do, their work was done, there was nothing else they could do to influence in their favor whatever pitiful balance there was against one incriminating video and Murkoff.

She tried to convince herself it wasn't that hopeless, that their footage was online and people were watching it, that it was only a matter of time until the corporation went down and the threat looming over them dissipated, but her mind refused to stop racing for solutions other than waiting. She hated waiting, it felt like waiting for imminent death, but she couldn't think of anything, every time the cogs in her head spun in desperate searches they would come up with nothing. Semi-jokingly, she thought moving to Antarctica might be their only chance at safety.

"You should not have come to the asylum, human." The Walrider said slowly, but uncharacteristically, he did not think logically before speaking. Not come to the asylum? If she hadn't, he would still be trapped there, Murkoff would have contained the situation, or at the very least secured their most important operation, Project Walrider, they would have moved him and Billy to another facility and the experiments would have resumed, nothing would have changed.

Her answer further took him off guard "If I hadn't then you wouldn't be here. A-and Murkoff would've gotten away with their crimes." She answered rather quickly and raised her head to look forward, but still rested her chin on her forearms.

"Wrong, Park would have still accomplished his investigation. He had his evidence, he survived the asylum, he would have found a way out of Mount Massive."

Alyssa did not speak, only discreetly looked away to her left. She knew he was right, but at the same time, she couldn't shake the feeling that it would have been wrong for her to not go to the asylum. As much as it pained her to put her family at risk, and all the trouble she was in ever since she first climbed that gate and set foot in that courtyard, she did not like the way things would have panned out if she had never approached Mount Massive.

Waylon would have released his footage by himself, then he would have taken his family and went on the run just like now, but without her and the swarm. An amused scoff wanted to leave her but she suppressed it. At first, she was convinced that the Walrider was a great danger to them, and while that fact wasn't completely proven wrong yet, what was proven right was the fact that he needed her alive, so her brain couldn't help rationalizing that as long as she was physically close to the Parks, if they were in danger, she was in danger as well, and because her life was linked to his, he would keep them all from harm. At least in theory. It was clear that he could not care less about the wellbeing of the other members in their party, she did not have to ask to know that.

Apart from all that, there was something else she couldn't deny. She had been both frightened and fascinated by the paranormal ever since she was a child, and the Walrider seemed like nothing if not paranormal. Perhaps not in the way most people would interpret the concept, she wasn't sure, it only made her want to know more about him, but at the same time, she couldn't forget what happened in the asylum. The dead patients, scientists, guards, torn to pieces, the rivers of blood flowing on the laboratory floor and the splattered innards, what he did to Walker and the corporate soldiers that shot her. A shudder ran through her body and she inhaled sharply, she wished she would not feel so frightened and on edge when he was close.

When he glanced down at her, he could sense her fear as she could feel his gaze on the top of her head. The quiet tension was unpleasant, it reminded her of all the times in the asylum when she was on edge with danger at every corner, she very much disliked the feeling, and decided rather impulsively to break the silence with the first thing on her mind

"Why did you kill them?" she wished she had at least phrased and asked her question in a less accusatory tone, but it was too late, she could only offer clarification while trying to keep her voice steady, which she mostly failed at "All the people in the asylum, I mean.. I-I mean I know not all of them were, well, innocent, but.." her words faded for a few moments, she finished in a whisper as she recalled the gruesome memories "There were so many bodies…"

Some of the tension decreased when she could not feel his gaze bearing down on her anymore, but now she feared his response.

"The excessive body count was Billy's deed."

Alyssa blinked in surprise and confusion, it was not the answer she expected.

"Wh.. Billy? The man in the glass sphere?.."

It was more than obvious that she needed more details, and he found the patience to explain.

A puzzled expression grew on her face, quickly followed by surprise and concern when the seemingly empty air right next to her began looking grainy, then the Walrider's dark shape assembled.

"Whoa, wait, people might see!" she whispered and began looking around cautiously

"Step away." He said simply, and Alyssa briefly glanced up at him with a small confused frown, but she didn't speak or move.

 ** _Step away!_** She flinched and her heart picked up its pace upon suddenly hearing his voice in her head much louder than usual, the mild irritation in it was also clear to her.

With apprehension, she complied. Although she didn't understand why he would suddenly demand she moved away from him, she began taking small hesitant steps back, then fully turned around and continued her very slow pace. As she was moving, time seemed to slow down, and her thoughts began to speed up, she swallowed and her wide eyes stared at the ground and her own shifting shadow on it.

 _Jesus, what's going on, why does he want me to do this? Did I ask the wrong question or something? Is.. he going to kill me?_

Her rational mind quickly reminded her that killing her was out of the question, as she knew well by then that he needed her to stay alive, but her emotions didn't respond well to logic, she couldn't think of any reason why this was happening apart from the possibility that she had done something wrong and was in grave danger. The only things she could hear were the occasional gusts of wind rustling the tree leaves and the heavy thumping of her own heart, which didn't calm when he suddenly spoke

"Stop."

Several meters away, she froze in place, and almost forgot to breathe.

"Turn around." The next instruction came, and Alyssa's legs began feeling weak. She didn't know what to expect, but images of the corpses torn to pieces in the asylum kept flashing through her mind. When she began turning around, the world felt in slow motion, she braced herself, but when she looked behind, the terrified expression on her face faded somewhat. There was nothing there.

She opened her mouth to speak, finding her hesitant voice a moment later "Wha-.."

"Now come closer." His voice came from the same spot, as far as she could tell. Relaxing slightly but still on edge, she was more confused now, she didn't understand why he made her walk away just to scatter his nanites and disappear for no apparent reason, but complied anyway.

Cautiously, she began approaching the same spot she stood in before. After just a few small steps, she took in a shallow sharp breath and stopped in place when she began seeing his shape appearing out of thin air, but it was vague and incomplete, as if she could only see the closest section of his body. With a short curious pause, she took an experimental large step backwards, and her eyes grew wider when she saw the shape disappear right in front of her, as if swallowed by the air itself.

Thinking she was beginning to understand, she relaxed more and walked towards him, watching with fascination how he began materializing again, the closer she got, the clearer and more complete she could see him.

She stopped a few feet away and spoke, still with some concern in her voice "You wanted to.. show me that?"

After he only nodded once, she let out a huge breath she didn't know she was holding, walked over to the fence and leaned on it while placing a hand on her chest "Christ…" she whispered to herself, trying to calm her heart's rapid thumping

"You were afraid." He spoke it as an observation, and Alyssa struggled to keep her voice down

"Damn right I was afraid, I-I thought you were going to tear my insides apart or something!"

He remained silent for a few moments, then cocked his head to the side "Perhaps that might be a worthwhile experiment."

"What?!" she gripped the top of the fence tightly and looked up at him, eyes wide as saucers, before frantically beginning to look around when she realized she had pretty much shouted

He kept his voice down, perhaps too low for her distraught and inattentive state "That is not-"

"Please, for the love of god, never do that again!" When she was content that no one was around, she took in a deep breath and attempted to calm herself

Her breath came out partially shaky, and when she unclutched a hand from the wooden fence, she quickly put it back down after seeing the way it was lightly quivering as well.

Silence had set in place for a long minute, time in which she did her best to calm herself. After a deep exhale, she found her steady voice again "I think I'm fine now.. You uh.. you were showing me how only people who are very close can see you or something like that?"

Admittedly, she felt a bit awkward after her little outburst, but she couldn't help herself, she had been genuinely frightened for her life at the time.

"Correct. A sparse amount of nanites gathered together are impossible for humans to see through visible light from a distance."

Alyssa nodded lightly, watching a group of people walking fairly far away, beyond the cemetery "Lovely…" she mumbled to herself sarcastically, she wished he would have simply told her that, without having her fear for her life. Although, she had to admit, she mostly had herself to blame for her freak out, the only signal she got from him was a mildly irritated command, but with him, even that was reason enough to worry, at least as far as she was concerned. Regardless, she couldn't lie, it was interesting and somewhat surreal to see the way he seemed to disappear and reappear in thin air, depending on her distance.

"So.. you were going to tell me how Billy managed to kill dozens of people throughout the asylum while being stuck in a glass ball?" she did not mean to make it sound so ridiculous, and hoped he wouldn't find her tone to be mocking.

Instead of anything from him, she heard a sudden loud distant laughter, followed by some brief, almost equally loud chatter. Glancing in the direction the sounds came from, she spotted the group of people approaching from a street on the right side. From where she stood, she could only distinguish five young looking people, seemingly in their late teens, two females and three males. The closer they came, the louder Alyssa could tell they were, some of them held bottles from which they took swigs as they walked. What caught her attention, however, was the baseball bat one of the males was holding over his shoulder.

The sight made her guard rise somewhat, and she kept her eyes on them for a few long seconds. Her focus on the group was interrupted when without warning, the Walrider began stepping closer, his movement was too slow to spook her, but she still tensed up. Unsure what to do, she froze in place while her heart rate abruptly spiked when he walked up directly behind her, far too close for comfort. She began finding it challenging to keep her breath from going shallow, and trying to appear as casual as she could, she stood up straight and took a small step forward, moving her body as close to the fence as physically possible.

"I-" she was unsure what she wanted to say, but whatever it was, she lost her train of thought when he placed his skeletal hands on the fence on each side of her.

"He had become.. increasingly disturbed."

Alyssa blinked in confusion as she tried to relax, momentarily forgetting what they were talking about.

"However, Billy's broken mind did not prevent him from being a matching host."

In an attempt to ease some of her tension, she decided to speak up "O-oh, like me?"

"Similarly, but he quickly grew proficient at manipulating nanobots."

She felt herself relax ever so slightly more, genuinely surprised at his words "Whoa.. like you?"

She barely suppressed a flinch when he raised his right hand a couple inches off the fence with the palm facing upwards and brought it closer in front of her

"To a certain extent. His competence was impressive for a human, but his control was rudimentary and imprecise. He became capable of forming his own swarm, through which he unleashed his pent up wrath on the humans responsible for his situation. But his ability was limited to rough physical manipulation, he was unable to utilize the nanites for any other purpose."

Alyssa parted her attention between his words and the grey smoke-like substance that emerged from his bones and formed a small transparent sphere in his palm. Her eyes widened slightly while she watched with growing fascination as tiny shapes began assembling inside the object. When the nanites arranged themselves until they resembled a miniature model of a human, in the same painful contorted position that Billy was in, complete with all the tubes and needles that were part of the contraption, Alyssa couldn't help leaning down slightly to get a better look.

It was a nearly exact replica of the glass sphere she found the young man imprisoned in, except only composed of multiple shades of grey instead of color. As impressive as it was to see the finely detailed scene come into existence out of a simple shapeless cloud, she couldn't help feeling a bit sad. It reminded her of the people in the asylum, she wondered what happened to Dr. Meyer and Eric, if they were still alive, and if Billy was safe enough in the glass sphere until the police arrived. She swallowed at the thought.

 _If they did arrive.. We need to check the news before we leave._

Before her thoughts drifted back to various worries again, the Walrider suddenly clenched his fist around the object in his palm, which immediately dispersed into a dark cloud again, momentarily flowing between the bones of his fingers like dust, before gathering back onto his body.

She recoiled lightly at the abrupt movement then stood up straight quickly and watched his hand return on the fence at her side "That's.. quite amazing. Physical manipulation of nanites like that. What do you mean he couldn't use them for any other purpose, though? Like what others?"

When he began moving his hand towards her, she tensed up again, her breath slowed as she watched one bony finger point towards her abdomen and approach

"T-tissue regeneration!" she spoke up in the hopes that her answer would prevent the contact with her wounds, and breathed easier when his hand returned to its previous position

"Correct."

Discreetly, she exhaled through her mouth, still very much uncomfortable and afraid of his proximity "I see… I hope Billy will be fine until the authorities raid the asylum and get everyone to safety. How could he do it, though? How could he just move something, especially something as small as nanobots, with his mind?"

His answer immediately resurfaced a memory "Through lucid dreaming."

"Lucid dreaming…" she mumbled with a thoughtful frown "I remember reading about that in his patient report. Other patients too, I think they called it dream therapy. What was.. Is that what it was for? They were trying to get more patients to do what Billy could?" her last question came more as a whisper

"The patients were mere test subjects, but yes. Ultimately, Murkoff's objective was to discover a stable procedure, a scientifically proven and reliable method of controlling swarms from a distance."

Alyssa swallowed "Call me pessimistic, but I have a feeling they weren't going to use the nanobots to cure cancer or something…"

"The wellbeing and progress of mankind does not seem to be part of Murkoff's agenda."

Her gaze shifted towards the dusty ground ahead, not that she was surprised by his words, she was well aware what kind of corporation Murkoff was

"So... what was it, then? What was Project Walrider?"

Admittedly, she was both slightly nervous and eager to hear his answer, and somewhat braced herself for it

"A weapons program." He simply stated.

She remained quiet for a few seconds, the silence only disturbed by another chilly but refreshing gust of wind that rustled both the leaves in the trees and some of her hair. Pulling a few strands away from her face, she almost whispered back

"I was afraid you'd say something like that…" she relaxed her shoulders and allowed them to slump down before finding her quiet voice again "Swarms as weapons?"

"Yes. Highly resistant to physical damage, lethal, undetectable, self-perpetuating and guided from a distance, with multiple applications. They believed it the closest thing to a perfect weapon."

Her eyes widened in realization as she stared into space, recalling the documents she found in the asylum that puzzled her

"My god.. Now it makes sense. I couldn't wrap my head around how they intended to get filthy rich off of an asylum full of crazy people, but I understand now. So that's why they said the profits would be unbelievable, they would have sold it and made billions!"

Since she had her back to him, she could not see him nod. A few moments of thoughtful silence later, she let out a heavy sigh and spoke slowly "If they were successful, such a powerful weapon could've fallen in the wrong hands eventually, I don't want to think what would've happened in that case… Thank god Murkoff failed."

"It did not start with Murkoff, human."

She had to do a double-take at that "…No?"

"No. Nanotechnology has existed for decades here, but humans never mastered it. Project Walrider was initiated before world war two, in the most advanced and classified German laboratories with their supposed brightest scientific minds."

Alyssa's jaw dropped, she wanted to look back at him in disbelief, but refrained from turning around

"Jesus… Wernicke, he was telling me something about that when I met him down in the lab, but I was too confused and scared to even try to understand.. Did they use the same.. methods back then? Experimenting on people?"

"Yes. The test subjects were mainly criminals, the mentally ill, and eventually prisoners of war. However, the experiments were not as severe, I suspect because the scientists weren't yet sure what exactly they were dealing with, Murkoff took it to the next level in their desire for results."

Upon hearing his words, she had to suppress her anger, she tightly grasped the wooden fence under her fingers and bit her lip, but there was an amount of sadness as well. Her voice came out slightly shaky

"What's wrong with those people.." Her mind went back to the asylum and all the torture victims within it "So Billy was the closest those bastards ever had to success.. Poor thing, he was just a victim. No wonder he killed all those people.."

Some of her attention was suddenly attracted by a few loud laughter sounds from the group of youngsters that was at the other edge of the cemetery, about twenty meters to Alyssa's right. The small gate for the enclosed area was several feet more down the road, but they chose to clumsily climb the relatively short wooden fence, which was more difficult for the ones holding their bottles that she could now notice were of alcohol.

She watched with some distraction as the group began slowly strolling through the cemetery, but had to admit she did not admire the obnoxious way they carried themselves, overtly loud, seemingly uncaring of the relatively late hour and the people in the houses nearby that could be trying to sleep.

Her attention was returned to the swarm when she heard his low gravelly voice speak slowly "Not all of them.."

Alyssa swallowed and paused "I figured as much." When he didn't say anything, she whispered, and braced herself "Why?.."

A slight push began making itself palpable on the wood under her hands, and when she glanced down, she noticed his bony fingers gripping the fence tightly, squeezing a small creak out of it from the pressure. She tensed up further when she heard his voice

"I needed to escape, I needed to find another host and escape. The only way to find it was by trial and error, the same thing I did to you, but the immediate results were always failure. I never cared to be cautious or gentle in my.. exit procedure, which resulted in the torn state of the bodies."

"I-I see.. so you were just trying to be free." She made an attempt to keep the nervousness in her voice hidden

"I don't care for your judgements, human." His words briefly confused her, before he continued "I grew tired of the endless failure, I learned that the patients almost exclusively held my opportunity to escape. All the rest, the scientists, the guards, the doctors, they did not differentiate in my mind anymore, they were nothing but failed vessels at best, and predominantly, annoyances that I eliminated. It served as an outlet for my frustrations as well."

Alyssa jumped slightly when she heard a soft cracking sound, and when she glanced down, she spotted a piece of the wooden fence broken in his hand. Judging from the way he briefly inspected it before dropping it, it seemed like a thoughtless accident, so she exhaled silently through her mouth and relaxed

"I can't say I know what it's like to be imprisoned for a long time, because it's never happened to me, so I don't know what I would've done.." Her answer was incomplete, but she did not feel safe enough to start judging him on his actions, so she kept the rest to herself.

 _But I know I wouldn't have started ripping people apart…_

Her gaze drifted to the group of youngsters, who had stopped strolling through the cemetery and sat on two cement above-ground tombs, without pausing their loud laughter and chattering. They attracted more of her attention, however, as she noticed they were throwing less than discreet glances in her direction while turning back to each other, snickering and saying things that she could not hear from the distance. It clicked in her mind that they weren't able to hear what she was saying either, but they could tell that she was speaking, and from their point of view, she was alone, seemingly talking to herself, an impression which greatly amused the youngsters.

Normally, she would pay no attention to the giggling of teens, but considering the situation she was in, it prodded at her anger and frustration, as it quickly reminded her of the people in the asylum. Looking in their direction, she knew they couldn't hear her unless she raised her voice, so she spoke without hiding her frown

"Yeah… Mental illness is fucking hilarious."

The group's attention was redirected from her and towards one of their friends who abruptly began playing loud music on her phone. Alyssa sighed at the increasingly less peaceful atmosphere, and considered it was time to leave, until one of the girls climbed up on the tomb and began dancing, while the others cheered and laughed.

Alyssa's frown deepened at the sight, now she wanted to leave more out of irritation than the annoyingly loud atmosphere. Then her distaste significantly increased as she watched the dancing girl walk to the head of the tomb where a bouquet of flowers braided together into a crown was placed, pick it up and put it on her head while continuing her half-drunken dance back across the final resting place of a stranger.

At that point, Alyssa did not realize that she was outright glaring daggers at the scene, and was only partially snapped out of it by the Walrider's voice

"Palpable resentment." It took her a moment to realize that he seemed slightly surprised by her feelings.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled heavily in an attempt to calm her anger "It's one thing to mess with people when they're alive and well, at least they can defend themselves.." it was her turn to squeeze the wooden fence with tension "But disrespecting the dead like this.. I can't stand this type of people." She kept her voice down but did not hide the animosity in her tone.

The Walrider cocked his head to the side with mild interest, the scene unfolding before them seemed bizarre and foolish to him, but his host was clearly disturbed by it. His gaze scanned across the cemetery grounds, and when he spotted one rusty metallic bucket next to another grave, he became slightly curious how his human's mood would change if he did what he had in mind.

Deciding for it, he guided a relatively small nano-cloud, dispersed just enough so it would be virtually invisible, towards the bucket in the distance. Using the tiny swarm, he grasped it and lifted it just to be off the ground so it would not make noise as he moved it towards the group of people. Alyssa did not say anything even though she seemed to notice, as she began following the bucket with her gaze.

Without making a sound, he brought the object nearer, and in the direction two of the youngsters were facing. Before any of them spotted it floating in mid-air in the dim light, he hurled it at great speed directly past the tombs they sat on and towards a light pole just a few feet away. Unsurprisingly, the metal bucket slammed hard against the pole and clanged loudly both upon impact and when it fell to the ground.

The reaction was instant, the girls screamed as everyone jumped and turned to look at the bucket, dented from the impact, rolling away from the pole. Upon frantically looking around and realizing that there was no one in sight that could have thrown it, they immediately panicked and began scrambling away, the girl on the tomb threw the flowers off her head and nearly fell as she rushed to follow her friends

"What the _fuck_ , man, there was no one there!" One of the guys shouted in an alarmed voice while they clumsily climbed over the fence and started sprinting down the street, away from the cemetery

"Just go, don't stop!" one girl shouted, her tone more urgent and distressed

Alyssa didn't bother to suppress herself in any way, she had a loud belly laugh as she watched the aftermath until the group was out of sight. She placed a hand on her abdomen, barely touching it, as her still healing muscles slightly hurt from contracting with laughter

While trying to ease it and stop, she spoke between chuckles "Oh god it hurts" and was even more relaxed when she noticed the Walrider was no longer behind her, but stood a few feet to her side.

"Good riddance." she suppressed her giggling and threw a smile over her shoulder at him as she began walking around the wooden fence. If it had been someone else, she would've asked for a high-five, but she doubted he would find her gesture anything short of weird.

The Walrider noticed her aura change drastically as soon as she started laughing, it abruptly went from gloomy and irritated to cheery and lively. As familiar as the former two were to him, they just didn't seem to fit right on her, he watched as she walked ahead a few meters then floated after her.

She opened the small cemetery gate and slowly stepped to the tomb where the group previously was. Approaching the braided flower crown, she gently picked it off the ground and blew the dust off of it before placing it back at the head of the tomb

"Let's go check on Waylon."


	18. Chapter 18

Only on the way back to the inn did her stomach's growling attract her attention to her hunger. _Maybe we shouldn't spend more time here, better eat on the road._

There were even less people on the street than before, but the Walrider dissipated into an invisible cloud just to be safe. Walking down the sidewalk, Alyssa was at the most peace she'd been in recent time, but that hadn't lasted, as the thoughts of the home phone call resurfaced in her mind, her gaze slowly dropped to the ground and she tried to keep her emotions in check.

 _It's almost time…_

Once again, the cogs in her brain began spinning vigorously in an attempt to formulate the quickest, safest and most straightforward way to explain to her parents what was going on before they reported her missing and risked attracting unwanted attention to her.

Temporarily lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the headlights of the car approaching from behind until the vehicle was very close. When it did pass by, she only threw a brief glance, but then quickly returned her gaze on the vehicle and squinted. She recognized it, even in the dim light, she could see it was the same SUV with tinted windows from before, it drove past her without a change in speed, but her walking pace did slow as some concern rose in her, she didn't know how to feel, part of her wanted to believe it was nothing.

 _Maybe it's just someone like us, stopping by and getting supplies or something before leaving town._ But another part wouldn't give her peace, she wanted to believe she was being overly paranoid, yet couldn't convince herself and relax, she wished the windows weren't so tinted, wondering what they had to hide while traveling on public roads. As the car was already out of sight and seemed to have no interest in sticking around her vicinity, she decided to let it go but keep her eyes open until they were out of town.

When she returned to the inn, she was mildly relieved to see neither the SUV nor the mechanic from earlier were anywhere in sight. Inside the building, she didn't see the old woman at the reception desk either, but paid it no mind. The newspaper on the desk, however, reminded her to check the internet before they leave.

 _God, please be a total crapstorm online…_

The hallway was seemingly empty, Alyssa could only hear some muffled music from one of the rooms, growing louder as she approached the Parks' room. She knocked harder than normally to make sure the people on the other side could hear her over the music just a few doors down, seconds later, Lisa opened and invited her in.

Stepping inside, she noticed Waylon sitting on the edge of the closest bed with his head resting on his hand, his eldest son was sitting on the other one, facing away, while both his youngest and his wife had somber expressions on their faces.

Alyssa felt mildly uncomfortable, but spoke softly "Is.. everything alright?"

Waylon exhaled through his mouth then stood up and answered almost in a whisper "It's fine. I.. They kept asking me about it. What's going on. Alex said I owe them an explanation, and I did, so I told them.. But how can you explain this to kids? I tried but.." he threw a quick glance at his eldest son "could've gone better."

Alyssa's gaze slid to the floor, now the gloomy atmosphere made sense, it made her further understand how Waylon's situation was worse than hers, not only did Murkoff know he was their whistleblower, but he was on the run with his family. She couldn't imagine how you explain to your children that you ran away from home because you tried to let everyone know that the people at your workplace were torturing people in secret and now their bosses want you and potentially your whole family too, dead.

Offering a sympathetic expression, she spoke quietly "I'm sorry… But we should get ready to leave. Could we check the news beforehand?"

After rubbing his eyes and suppressing a yawn, Waylon nodded and approached the desk where they left the laptop. As he turned on the device, her heart began thumping harder in anticipation again. The man muttered something she couldn't understand before speaking more clearly "s-fucking music.. Woke me up about fifteen minutes ago."

Alyssa held back a sigh at the current situation, the man had been dead tired, on the run, trying to protect his and his family's lives, and he couldn't even get his full rest without being disturbed by people blasting music without a care in the world. He clumsily dragged the chair next to the desk closer and sat down, then began setting up his security measures. She stepped at his side to watch the screen in anticipation, and his wife did the same, a clear concerned expression occupied the woman's face as she stood next to her husband with her arms crossed. The tension was palpable, no one made a sound as the man typed away at the keyboard, doing his best to ensure their online safety and anonymity for a few minutes.

At first, Waylon simply wrote in the name of the asylum and checked the news related to the topic. The bigger news websites displayed disconcerting results, the most recent articles they had on the Mount Massive Asylum were years old, some of them dating all the way back to Murkoff's purchase of the building. A few others reported on sudden big management changes after the investment, that was a whole other suspicious can of worms that Alyssa had looked into before, and from her understanding, it was another case of employees growing a conscience and refusing to go along with the questionable activities in the asylum.

"Shit.." Waylon mumbled as he kept scrolling through articles, the mainstream media did not seem to have picked up on their evidence yet.

"Over there!" Alyssa whispered excitedly at an article closer to the bottom of the page, it was from a lesser known news website, although not an obscure source. The article was only a few paragraphs long, but contained a video. Before playing it, Waylon made sure the volume was high enough for them to hear over the music from the other room.

While the text gave what written details were available, the video above it, presented by a young anchorman, showed heavily censored samples from the graphic video evidence she and Waylon had captured. The video presentation was as fair and unbiased as they could have hoped from a semi-large news corporation. Lisa gasped at the sight and squeezed both her husband and Alyssa's shoulders in surprise and excitement at the online report, but while they seemed interested as well, they were certainly not as excited about it.

"Is there something you're not telling me?.. Waylon?" Lisa glanced at the both of them, then at her husband, who leaned back on the chair and crossed his arms

"The uh.. This site. It's not unheard of, but it's far from mainstream. Not a lot of people watch this, most people watch the mainstream channels. But you saw I just checked, there's nothing on there, nothing new, not a word about our evidence."

The confused expression on the woman's face was gradually replaced with a concerned and understanding look as she slowly removed her hands from their shoulders.

Alyssa bit her lip with worry, but made a request "Could you do a normal search and sort by recent?"

The man obliged, and the results were both positive and negative to Alyssa. On one hand, there were plenty of them, there was a lot of interest in the controversial video they released, but on the other, the vast majority of it seemed to be on conspiracy theory websites and blogs.

Waylon shook his head and spoke in an exasperated voice "Great, just great, we needed the public at large to know about this, but now the only people that are finding out are the ones who think the Queen of England is secretly a lizard. Fuck me…"

As demoralizing as the discovery was, Alyssa had to suppress a smile at his words. It was true, from her experience, there were a lot of absurd people and theories on those sort of websites, polluting the well of real information, but at the very least, this was publicity, and publicity was what their footage needed the most, the more people knew, the better it was for everyone, except, of course, for Murkoff.

"It can't be that bad, Mr. Park, it looks like there's a lot of people talking about it on social media too, and.. can you do a video search?"

The man obliged again, and his eyebrow rose at the results. YouTube had returned a numerous amount, and many were not from conspiracy-related channels, but average people passionately discussing the problem and showing what little they could from the evidence while heavily censoring the graphic images. The view counts were not disappointing either, with the three most popular results having a few hundred thousand views.

The two women exchanged smiles at the discovery, and the man scratched the back of his head "Well alright, I guess this is the best we're gonna get for now, huh?"

"Maybe the bigger mainstream news need more time to investigate? Maybe they want to make sure they're not going to show something that could be fake and get millions of people upset?" Lisa spoke, and her husband gave her a questioning look "What?"

Waylon shook his head "Nothing.. I sure hope so. They need to get their asses to work and verify that it's not fake footage, these bastards are always greedy for ratings, their views would explode if they reported on this, that's why I don't understand.." his words faded and he took a deep breath in "Forget it, let's just pray you're right and they'll cover it asap."

Disconnecting from the internet and turning off the laptop, he clumsily stood up, somewhat stiff from the many hours of sleep, his still healing leg injury not being of much help either "Alright people, time to move, get your stuff and go to the car, come on!" He encouraged his children, who by then were beginning to feel somewhat sleepy, but nonetheless listened to their father, while Lisa went to gather what few things they had unpacked.

"Did you guys eat anything?" Alyssa asked casually stepping back to make room

"Oh, yeah, the kids and I had some of the stuff you bought, but you and Waylon must be starving." the other woman said, but her husband interjected

"We spent enough time here, we need to move, we'll eat on the road.. Alyssa?"

She nodded, but suppressed a yawn, and felt the need to stretch her still slightly stiff limbs and back "Agreed, best we keep going. But I need to visit the ladies room, splash some cold water on my face, I'll be right back."

"Want me to come with you?" Lisa interjected as she placed a half empty bottle of water in the suitcase

"Oh it's not necessary, I'll be back in a minute." She flashed a smile and exited the room, leaving the family to prepare for departure again.

As she walked down the hallway, however, she began feeling slightly lightheaded. She rushed past the annoyingly loud and pounding music and towards the end of the corridor where the bathroom was, in need of some silence, while remaining relatively close to the wall, just in case she lost her balance. The sudden symptom concerned her somewhat, but she hoped it would alleviate after she splashed some cold water on her face.

When she stepped inside the ladies bathroom, she thought she was alone at first, but soon heard noises inside one of the stalls and noticed a woman's feet. It was less than ideal, as she would've liked to ask the Walrider if he knew anything about her sudden lightheadedness, but she dismissed it for the time being and quietly walked to one of the sinks.

The bathroom had seen better days, but it was acceptable for being inside an inn, in a small town, she turned the cold water on and slightly recoiled at the near icy temperature making contact with her fingers. Bracing herself, she cupped her hands together and gathered a small amount of water before splashing it over her face. She couldn't contain a gasp when the cold liquid hit the warm skin of her face, and leaned over the sink on her elbows.

A few deeper breaths escaped her, she did not feel better, if anything, she felt slightly more dizzy. Looking behind her towards the stalls, she could see one of them was still occupied, she shook her head sluggishly and rose up to glance in the mirror.

 _We're about to leave and never come back here anyway, what's the point. She could think I'm talking on the phone or something, whatever._ Unable to find enough reasons not to, she spoke up

"What's going on? I'm feeling lightheaded."

Preparing herself to not get spooked again, she grabbed another handful of water before shutting the faucet and running her hand down her face, slightly shuddering at the cold droplets sliding down her neck and chest. The voice in her head came as expected, but she did not expect what it said.

 **_You have lost a considerable amount of blood, human._ **

She blinked and stared in the mirror at her slightly messy hair and water dripping down her face as she processed his words

"You mean.. the gunshots?" On second thought, she wished she had picked her words more carefully, realizing it was not exactly wise to talk about gunshots where a stranger could hear.

 **_Yes. You haven't replenished enough, your blood pressure is still low._ **

Alyssa sighed softly and flashed a small smile. _Thanks, doc…_

Her guard rose briefly when the woman inside the stall walked out, it was only through the mirror that she saw the discreet confused look the stranger gave her upon realizing she was not holding a phone to her ear, as far as the other could tell, she was talking to the air.

At that moment, Alyssa found it uncharacteristically difficult to care that she looked like a madwoman, she kept her gaze on the stranger until she quietly left the bathroom without even approaching the sinks.

When she was alone, she leaned over the sink again and held a cold hand over her forehead. The skin felt hot, and she had to admit, now that she paid more attention to it, her mouth was rather dry as well, so she made a mental note to drink a lot more water after they left.

Arching her back in an attempt to loosen the stiffness in her body, she suppressed a wince at the mild pain in her abdomen as she flexed her muscles and stood up straight. Taking a step back but keeping a hand on the sink for support, she leaned down and placed a hand next to the wound on her thigh. It was nearly fully closed still, but it was leaving behind an ugly long scar. She frowned mildly at the unsightly display, but straightened up again when she heard the bathroom door opening.

Certain that she had enough of the town and its company, she decided to leave right after the woman walked in, but she had to do a double take when she realized the person who stepped inside was not a woman at all.

While the mechanic closed the door behind him, crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall and half of the door, Alyssa wasted no time "Sir, this is the ladies bathroom, please step outside." She spoke in a stern tone.

She avoided looking at the man and only kept her gaze either in the mirror or down in the sink as she started washing her hands, she knew she had to remain serious and stern in a situation like this, but the man shared her attitude, he was no longer casual like before, his voice was just as strict

"So y'all didn't go like you said."

Alyssa briefly turned her head in the opposite direction from him and rolled her eyes. _This can't be good…_ But kept her composure

"We were just about to leave, if you would kindly step out of the way." She shut the faucet and turned to face the man with a patient but expectant expression on her face

He did not seem swayed, instead of stepping aside or walking out, he took a large step towards her

"Y'know what? I'm sick of you city bitches and your stuck-up attitude. You lyin' all the time! Just last week I caught another tramp lyin' to me!"

The tone of his voice rose, and Alyssa wanted to take a step back, but kept herself still, making some effort to remain calm and collected

"It was not my intention to lie, mister-" her words quickly faded when that same feeling of hostility and danger that did not originate from her suddenly came back in full force, and this time it was so intense she couldn't contain her fear, she stepped back instinctively as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.

The man seemed to misunderstand her, and was only encouraged

"Oh _now_ you wanna know my name! Too late for that, y'all are nothin' but two-faced lyin' tramps, you only admit it when I make ya!"

Alyssa was not hearing much of what he was saying anymore, his words became background noise as she began realizing that the man's life was in grave danger, she wasn't sure how she knew it, she could only feel an overt murderous intent in the room that certainly did not come from her, and it seemed far too sinister to belong to the man in front of her.

Rather quickly understanding that her chances of keeping the swarm at bay were minimal to null, she decided to try to convince the human to protect his own life instead, she slowly rose her hands to her chest in an attempt to placate the man and spoke as calmly but sternly as she could

"Sir, please, for everyone's sake, walk away. Trust me, y-you're not safe right now, please."

Much to her chagrin, her strategy only seemed to backfire, the man nearly downright glared at her, and took another step forward, his voice even more irritated

"Oh so now you're makin' threats at me?! What, you gonna call yer daddy like the other airhead too?"

Alyssa shook her head and her eyes darted around the room briefly, the danger in the atmosphere was palpable to her, she almost wanted to ask the man how he couldn't sense it, it grew so severe she was beginning to fear for her own life as well, despite knowing better

"I-I told you not to kill anyone, please, we have to leave!"

The man paused at her clearly unsettled mannerisms and the fact that she did not seem to be talking to him, but approached her regardless and began raising his hand towards her hair

"What the heck you talkin' about?! Listen here skirt, every dam week there's some-" his words abruptly faded when his hand had frozen in mid-air in front of him, his gaze dropped down at his wrist and he frowned as he began trying to pull his arm away. His angered expression was quickly replaced by a mix of confusion and fear

"What the shit?!" He glanced over at the girl ahead, whose own hand was covering her mouth and her wide eyes communicated clear distress. "The fuck you doing to me?! Are you some sorta witch or something?!" the man spoke with both hostility and anxiety in his voice as he began tugging on his arm with all his strength, and his panic only increased when he grew unable to move his fingers next, his entire hand from the wrist to the tips of his fingers feeling encased in steel.

Alyssa swallowed, barely registering the man's questions and pleaded again "Don't do it, please, we need to go, let's go!"

As far as she could tell, her words did not alleviate the murderous intent in the room, she was unable to even make a dent in his resolve.

 _This is bad, this is bad, what do I do?!_ Her mind's desperate race for solutions to prevent what she was convinced was about to be a brutal death was cut short when she began noticing the seemingly empty air in front of the man grow blurry and dark.

It only took several seconds for the numerous microscopic machines to fully assemble themselves in the usual pattern and construct the Walrider's shadowy form, the swarm stood slightly hunched over, staring down at the mechanic while grasping the human's hand with his own skeletal fingers in a vice grip.

As Alyssa watched the man's eyes widen to saucers and his trembling jaw drop, she braced herself for the inevitable scream, which came the next moment, ear-piercing and broken towards the end, while he desperately squirmed and struggled to free his hand from the entity's clutch. For a moment, she wondered if the other people in the building were able to hear him over the loud music still playing a few rooms away, then her mind began racing again in an attempt to find anything she could do. The Walrider's other hand was free, she almost wanted to run up to him and grab it and pull him away, but she assumed the other man was already struggling with all his might to get away, so she doubted there was any way she would be able to budge the swarm if he didn't want to move.

Because of his height and broad back, she was unable to fully see what was happening in front of him, she stepped to the side to catch sight of the man frantically tugging on his arm, desperate to part it from the swarm's bony fingers

"W-what the fuck is this?! Don't just stand there, help me! Someone help, can anyone hear me?!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs towards her and anyone else who might hear while his eyes shifted quickly from looking up in terror at the alien creature before him and down at his immobile hand.

Unable to stop herself, knowing she would feel haunted if she didn't do more to try to prevent the man's death, she began taking hesitant steps forward towards them. Raising a quivering hand, she planned to very carefully place it on the Walrider's arm to get his attention then plead him again to let the man go and leave. Instead of that, she froze in her tracks when she noticed the man's hand grow darker until it was grey up to his wrist. The change in color hadn't stopped, it steadily spread up, along the forearm, until it almost reached the elbow, and from there, it darkened in color further, turning nearly fully black within a few seconds.

The sight was an immediate and very unpleasant reminder of when she watched her own veins darken in a similar fashion, but that was under the skin, in this case, it seemed to be over it. As she pushed away the disturbing memory, she couldn't help but feel almost curious, unable to stop herself from staring and wondering what was going to happen, even though she'd been having a very bad feeling about the whole situation ever since the mechanic stepped inside the bathroom.

Just a few seconds later, she regretted her curiosity. The blood began to drip from the man's arm, it was a few droplets only for a moment, very quickly, sizeable amounts of blood began pouring down on the dirty white tiled floor of the bathroom, instantly accompanied by the man's anguished screams as he watched the sight in horror, his efforts to break free hindered by the shocking scene unfolding in front of his eyes and the excruciating pain.

Alyssa had to suppress her own scream, she swiftly moved her hand away from the Walrider and slapped it over her mouth tightly as her eyes grew wide with terrifying understanding. While she was far from an expert, she knew a few basic things about nanotechnology, and one of them was the ability of nanobots to seemingly devour things, to chew up matter at the molecular level.

She began feeling physically ill as the realization that the flesh of the man in front of her was being eaten off, disintegrated before her eyes, settled in, her brain told her to look away, but a morbid curiosity prevented her from doing so. When she realized it was indeed more than just blood pouring from the tormented man's arm, she immediately wished she had looked away before she noticed small chunks of soft tissue dropping onto the floor.

She briefly shut her watering eyes tightly, for a moment believing it was all a gruesome nightmare, and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she spotted white. Underneath the increasingly thin layer of flesh on the screeching man's arm, she began seeing the white but bloody bones sticking through what little muscle tissue was left.

In her petrified gaze at the morbid scene she almost didn't notice the Walrider cocking his head to the side as he still stared down at the man, who by that time was too engulfed in agonizing pain and terror to struggle much anymore. Alyssa looked up at the swarm, unable to suppress the cold chills going down her spine as she recalled what happened less than twenty minutes earlier, the interesting conversation they had, the fact that he made her laugh, perhaps not on purpose, but nonetheless, he had made her laugh, and now he was doing this _._ The comparison made her skin crawl and had her fear for her life again, and by the time she forced herself to be attentive in the present moment again, the sight in front of her was almost surreal.

Virtually all the flesh on the man's arm, from below his elbow, was gone, chewed up into a pile of bloody mush on the floor; the only thing left behind remained his reddish-white skeleton arm, hand still clasped with the other, inky black skeleton arm. Alyssa stared at the sight in disbelief for a few seconds, unable to keep her jaw and lower lip from quivering. By that point, the man was a mess of tears and hoarse weak screams, barely able to find the strength to struggle.

The Walrider let out what sounded like a dark amused exhale, and finally released the man's hand, who immediately fell to the floor, before scrambling away, whimpering, and still bleeding profusely. With great difficulty, he collected himself just enough to partially crawl, partially run out of the bathroom, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Alyssa stood quiet, her gaze remaining on the door, still in a somewhat stunned state. When she caught sight of his dark form move in the corner of her eye, she jumped and also scurried to the door, but stopped at the exit and glanced back at the swarm. One step towards her was enough to send her running, she took off down the hallway, not caring that she was following the mechanic's blood trail, or that the man himself was not too far ahead, running as best he could while occasionally leaning against the wall

"Someone help me!" he shouted as loud as he could over the music while he made his way towards the lobby, but his voice was shot from all the previous screaming. Even so, someone had likely heard him, as the volume of the music was suddenly significantly lowered.

She couldn't stop for him, all she wanted to do was run to the Parks' room to see if they were still there or already waiting for her at the car. She almost stumbled when she heard the voice in her head.

 **_Stop._ **

But she didn't, her legs refused to listen, she knew it was in her best interest to listen, yet she found her terror-stricken body unable to stop running. That was, until she heard it again, that time so sinister that it petrified her.

 **_Do NOT run from me!_ **

She halted dead in her tracks so abruptly she nearly fell forwards.

The urge to look over her shoulder was immense, but so was her fear of what was going to happen in the immediate future; while her heart threatened to thump its way out of her chest, she felt trapped, almost claustrophobic, her mind raced and her legs grew weak. Trying to decide what to do, she took a quivering deep breath and chose to remain in place.

 _If he wants to hurt me he could do it regardless…_

So she waited, and waited; objectively, it was less than a minute, but in her distressed mind, the time stretched to agonizing lengths. Keeping her gaze straight ahead, she was a bit surprised when she suddenly heard Lisa's voice "Oh my god!", followed by Waylon's barely audible "What is it?" before he also exclaimed "Holy shit!"

From where she stood, she couldn't see their door open, but it only made sense that they spotted the man walking by with a skeletal arm and leaving a trail of blood. The urge to just run to them and leave the town already was difficult to keep at bay, but she did her best to remain still.

She flinched and inhaled sharply when she felt a pressure in the shape of a large hand on the middle of her back. Rather reflexively, she dashed forward, but was quickly stopped when the hand grabbed the back of her blouse and kept her in place again.

"I just-" she barely held back a whimper, but then began taking small steps forward as she was pushed from behind. She walked slowly, not of her own accord, if she tried to move faster, he would pull her back until she maintained a casual, relatively slow pace.

It felt like forever until she reached the Parks' room, and when she did, she felt the grip on her blouse vanish. The door was cracked open, she pushed it with an unsteady arm and stepped inside to see the briefly startled but distressed expressions of both Lisa and her husband, yet they must've been minimal in comparison to the dread on her own face, as Waylon spoke up

"Alyssa, what happened, are you okay? Did you see that guy?"

She only swallowed and nodded slightly "W-we have to go. Quickly."

Waylon gave her a confused and concerned look, but turned to the others "Alright, let's get going, everyone stay close." He took the suitcase from Lisa and they began making their way down the hallway.

"Don't look, guys" Lisa said to her children in regard to the long trail of blood on the side of the corridor, Alex frowned at the sight and kept curiously glancing down occasionally, his little brother hugged the cat tightly with one hand and held his mother's hand with the other while he mostly kept his eyes tightly shut until they made it to the end of the hall.

When they reached the lobby, Alyssa strode past the mechanic sitting on the chair behind the reception desk, whimpering and doing his best to squeeze his arm tightly above the elbow to reduce the bleeding, while the old lady was on the phone calling an ambulance. Judging from her frantic tone and mannerisms, the woman was almost as scared as the man when she saw the state he was in.

"Go, just go." Alyssa tried to speak under her breath so only the Parks would hear her when their gazes lingered on the man behind the desk. They rushed through the exit and to the parking lot; in her unsettled state, she dropped her keys when she pulled them out of her pocket as she approached the car, but quickly picked them up and dashed to the vehicle.

By the time they put the suitcases in the trunk and everyone got in, they could already hear the loud and fast approaching ambulance sirens in the distance. Alyssa didn't want to be anywhere near when the paramedics arrived and began asking questions, especially if the police were going to get involved, she stepped on the pedal and hit the road, making an effort to bring her attention away from what just happened and over to the street.

Driving south, she was pretty sure she was over the speed limit, but felt the urge to get out of the town as soon as possible. Until then, she kept throwing glances in the rear view mirror while trying to calm herself, everyone seemed on edge but remained silent, also occasionally checking behind them. When they finally were on the outskirts of Buena Vista and speeding down the road at the legal limit, she allowed herself to somewhat relax.

"Alright, Alyssa.. Do you have any idea what the hell happened back there? You looked like you've seen a ghost. Who was that guy, and what happened to his arm?" Waylon spoke slowly then leaned back in the passenger seat.

She suppressed a small shudder and remained quiet for a few moments, unsure what to actually tell him. It was tempting to simply say to not worry about it, but on a whim, she decided to go with the plain truth

"Nanobots devour soft tissue into mush." She kept her voice down, but also kept her answer vague enough in case the others heard, not wanting to scare them, hoping it was just enough that he would understand.

Waylon gave her a questioning frown, momentarily puzzled by her words.

"What do you mean?.." Lisa asked leaning closer

"Holy shit…" Her husband interjected in a whisper as realization hit him and he turned to his wife "I'll explain later, if you really want to know.. but don't eat beforehand."

The woman frowned and swallowed, but leaned back in her seat.

Alyssa sighed heavily, feeling her nervousness ease the farther she drove from the town, but sensing the Walrider's presence gave her mixed feelings now, even though she knew he shouldn't be a threat to her, she couldn't get over the gruesome scene she witnessed. Still, it wasn't only his fault, there was nothing stopping her from simply leaving the bathroom without a glance behind, yet she didn't, she stood there watching, mentally scarring herself due to some twisted sense of morbid curiosity mixed with the disbelief of what she was seeing and the naïve hope of stopping him.

 _I should've left, maybe he would've followed me, maybe he would've left the creep be and we would've been gone without an incident._ She squeezed the steering wheel in frustration, then realized she was blaming herself again. _It wasn't my fault, dammit, I did what I could, I tried to talk both of them away!_

"Alyssa," Waylon's voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts, but he seemed reluctant to speak "I know whatever you saw must've been hard, but.. I think you shouldn't delay calling your parents. We could pull over and wait, give you some privacy, after you're done, we hit the gas and keep going south."

Reflexively, she shut her eyes tightly to prevent them from watering, but quickly opened them to focus on the road. It was getting very dark, there were barely any other cars on the street, and a large dark cloud was approaching from the east, but the environment wasn't what brought her nerves on edge again.

 _Thank you, Mr. Park, just when I was trying to calm my shit down.._

"No.. You're right, I should. Just give me a minute, please, I need to.. get further away from the town." She spoke hesitantly and switched on the car's high beams. The man only nodded and looked out the window, silence falling on the crew.

She took a few purposeful deep breaths in an attempt to relax both physically and mentally, but her emotions were still running wild.

 _Get yourself together, I need to get this over with, I need them to know so there will be one less thing to worry about._

Throwing a glance behind, she was slightly more at ease when she noticed they were virtually alone on the road, her foot lifted off the gas pedal just a hair, she wanted to pull over, yet couldn't bring herself to do it. She bit down on her lip hard in frustration and the bitter sense of feeling trapped. It annoyed her, because she had been actually trapped not long ago in the asylum, but now she had at least the entire country to get lost in, and yet she couldn't stop feeling like a rat in a maze again.

Decelerating more, she discreetly looked at the others briefly and wondered if they really were in a worse situation than her. Granted, Murkoff knew what Waylon did and were after him, but at least he and his family were together, they had each other, if they were in danger, at least Waylon could do his best to protect them, she couldn't say the same about herself and her family.

On top of that, as much as she disliked the fact, she had to admit it was just a matter of time until Murkoff found out that she was traveling with them and she became a target as well. What she hoped they didn't know, however, was her being the current host of the Walrider. Even though she didn't trust Wernicke, he did try to get her to kill Billy, so they were well aware of what should be done to stop the swarm, at least one way, those EMPs he told her about did not put her mind at ease either, and she wished she at least had an idea of what they looked like, so she knew what to keep an eye out for and run in the opposite direction the moment she saw them.

Suddenly, her stomach's growl brought her attention back to the present moment, but she had far too many things to worry about to feel embarrassed by the noise.

"Oh, we should pull over and get you guys something to eat, I forgot you didn't get the chance." Lisa spoke.

Alyssa swallowed and prepared to pull over, but not for food.

 _Alright, enough delaying, we're making that phone call._ She slowed the car to a stop on the side of the road and cracked her door open before speaking

"I'll be right back, wait here. I know it's tempting to jack my car and scram, but kindly don't."

Waylon snorted in amusement, but his wife frowned "What? We would never-"

Alyssa rose her hand to stop the woman and shook her head "Sorry, bad habit of bad jokes at the wrong times, eases stress. I'll keep it short." she glanced to the man who nodded and spoke as she exited the car "Don't go too far."

She didn't close the door, only left it cracked open and began walking behind the car and away down the side of the road. There was not much in the horizon of open fields, with the exception of a fairly deep ditch on the left side of the road, and a very old, large fallen tree trunk laying on the ground on the right side, not too far away from the vehicle. Pulling her phone out, she began stepping towards the remains of the tree, the silence of the night only interrupted by the rare passing car and the sounds of crickets.


	19. Chapter 19

When she reached the tree trunk, she sat on it facing away from the road, and took a deep breath of the refreshing country-side air. Her mind alternated between racing with fearful thoughts and being virtually empty, and when she finally brought her attention to the phone, she had to make an effort to keep her fingers from quivering as she typed in her mother's number.

After she double checked that it was correct, she only kept staring at the tiny screen for several long seconds. With a blink, she glanced back at the car to see Lisa going through the trunk, presumably getting some food for her and Waylon.

 _Okay, for god's sake, you survived the asylum, you nearly got your head torn off your shoulders twice, you can do this._ She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. _But this is different…_

Before her finger reached for the dial button, she glanced around again, not even sure for what reason; if she was honest with herself, she would have to admit she was just stalling.

Finally, she pressed the button, and brought the phone to her ear, both actions feeling much more difficult than they should have. The ringing tone made her leg begin to quiver, she placed her hand on it and squeezed her knee but it hadn't stopped, and she was finding it increasingly challenging to keep her breath from going shallow.

After what felt like long minutes, she nearly dropped the phone when she heard her mother's neutral voice speak "Hey, who's this?"

Alyssa opened her mouth, but it took effort to bring her words out

"M-mom. It's me." She didn't try too hard to keep her voice steady, because she knew she would fail regardless

"Oh, honey, calling so soon again, how are you? Why can't I see your number? Is everything okay?"

Upon hearing the last question, she bit her lip so hard to keep herself from breaking down that a drop of blood escaped.

 _No, mom, nothing is okay…_ As close as she was to bursting into tears, she remembered that for everyone's safety, she had to keep the call as short as possible and be very careful with what she said. She cleared her throat and spoke as calmly and seriously as she could

"Mom, please, listen to me very carefully. I want to apologize for what I've done, and I'll never forgive myself if harm ever comes to you guys because of my actions, but I want you to know that I did it in the hopes of saving a lot of people.." she had to pause, as her voice was growing increasingly close to giving away the fact that she was about to break down

"What?! Honey what's wrong, are you in trouble with the law? Tell us, your father and I won't be mad, what's happening?" the woman's voice quickly turned from the previous cheerfulness to immediate deep concern and urgency.

Alyssa wiped a tear off her cheek, making an effort to get herself together again and tried to speak calmly "No, it's not that, listen, I don't have much time, it's not safe to talk for too long, I need you to know this: whatever you do, do _not_ report me as missing, please, this is important, if you do, you'll only put me in more danger, do you understand?" she tried to be clear and demanding of a positive answer, but it was painfully difficult to hear her mother's voice growing as scared and distressed as hers

"Oh my god, just tell me if you're safe, Jesus, Alyssa, what's going on, where are you?"

She squeezed her tearful eyes shut and shook her head "I can't, for everyone's sake, I can't tell you, please understand, trust me, and just do like I said, don't report me missing. I have to go, but I swear to God, I'll do everything I can to stay safe and come back, I promise, I'll come back someday." She couldn't suppress a sob, and now the tears were flowing freely, she gripped her skirt in a tight fist and sniffled

"Okay, okay, we trust you, but.. Please come back soon, I don't know what you did, but whatever it is, we still love you, we always will, don't you forget. Stay safe and come back soon, call us again when you can!"

"You'll hate me when I come back, because you told me so many times to stop, but I didn't listen to you. I just wanted to help them, mom, but.. nevermind it.. I love you too, tell dad and Josh what I said, tell them not to worry and that I love them too. I'll be back, stay safe." she quickly ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket just so she wouldn't soak it in tears, she brought both palms to her face and didn't bother to suppress her sobbing anymore.

Raising her knees to her chest, she wasn't even sure if the Parks could hear her crying from the car, but she found it difficult to care. The wind had picked up and the dark cloud from earlier brought with it many similar others, covering nearly the entire sky and further diminishing what light the moon was reflecting down. Between sobs, she removed her hands from her face and rose a trembling one to her cheek to wipe her tears, the already wet skin making the chilly wind feel even colder.

It had been as hard as she anticipated it, talking to her mother, and while it was now one less thing to worry about, she couldn't get the woman's distressed voice out of her mind. _It's all my fault._ She couldn't help her guilt either, but at the same time, thinking of the alternative was almost as painful, she put her feet down and allowed the tears to drip on her thighs.

 _But_ w _hat was I supposed to do, mom?! Let them keep torturing people? For how many more decades!? No one was doing anything, I had to do something!_ She clenched her teeth tightly and squeezed her fists until her fingernails left red marks in her palms as more sobs escaped her.

Mostly instinctively, her mind searched for solutions again, but the search was only followed by more frustration as she remembered the lack of information about their evidence in the mainstream media.

 _And what the heck is going on there, why aren't they reporting on it?! I risked everything for that video!_ She ran a tear stained hand up her forehead to move away the hair that had fallen over her face. _Is Murkoff bribing or threatening them?_ That possibility was too unsettling to accept, but as much as she dreaded it, she knew that if the story wouldn't break nation-wide, if not world-wide news very soon, then it wasn't just possible, but likely that Murkoff were involved in the suppression of the information.

Trying to calm herself, she let out a deep shaky exhale as her sobs eased and became increasingly infrequent. She placed a hand on her chest, but her heart only spiked, albeit briefly, when she suddenly noticed the seemingly floating bottle of water at her left. She jumped and held back a scream, then somewhat relaxed when she noticed the inky black skeletal hand holding the bottle.

"Replenish your blood." The Walrider spoke, and Alyssa's wide tearful eyes remained on him, momentarily confused.

A few seconds later, she felt a bit silly at her zoning out, and took the bottle of water "O-oh, right, blood loss. I need liquids, I remember.." she quickly wiped more tears and took the bottle cap off, but froze when he suddenly sat down right next to her, despite the fact that there was plenty of space on either side. He kept his left hand on his knee, but his right hand on the tree trunk, partly behind her back, slightly leaning towards her, almost expectantly.

Her feelings of sadness and frustration were replaced by nervousness in an instant by that one simple act of sitting next to her, and she wasn't sure what she actually preferred. Still, she was thirsty, so she brought the bottle to her lips and started drinking. She had to admit, it felt like much needed fuel to her body, until it accidentally went down the wrong pipe.

She bent over as she began coughing and spitting the water that went in the wrong direction, pushed her hair away to keep it from getting wet, but then flinched and stopped when she sensed something on her bare shoulder. It seemed to be in the shape of his skeletal hand, but it also felt like the smoothest, most velvet-like material that ever touched her skin. A slight involuntary frown formed on her face, and when she was gently pulled back up, she saw it was indeed his hand. The sensation didn't grace her skin for long, as he returned his hand to his knee.

"What is it now?" He asked upon seeing her confused and somewhat curious expression.

She quickly shook her head and laughed nervously, trying to be self-deprecating "Nothing, I.. Heh, I can't even drink water properly, how am I supposed to survive being hunted by a filthy rich, powerful, world-wide corporation? What a joke…" she finished in a whisper and drank some more water.

The thought slipped into her mind nearly by itself, though, she realized that the only other times when they touched were either in very stressful situations or in very rough and brief manners, where she couldn't have noticed the feeling.

 _Is that really what he feels like?_ Discreetly glancing down at his leg only a few inches away from her bare one, she felt a mild desire to touch him, almost not believing the sensation she felt from his hand and wanting to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. A slight warmth rose to her face at the idea, and she quickly dismissed it, but was still unable to dismiss her curiosity.

"You aren't." he said, bringing her attention back to the situation at hand. Momentarily lost at his words, she gave a questioning look.

The swarm crossed his arms over his chest, which eased some of her tension, since one of them wasn't behind her back anymore "It's likely that Murkoff doesn't know you exist, human. But they-"

Without even thinking, she blurted out "My name is Alyssa", interrupting him. He only glanced down at her, and she felt herself shrinking a bit, she looked away and drank some more water after muttering "Sorry."

"But Murkoff are well aware of who their whistleblower is. They will remain on Park's trail. But you.."

She already had a bad feeling about this, but didn't dare to interrupt him again.

"They know nothing of you. Of us. They do not know I am with you. This is our advantage, take it, take your car and leave."

Now she wished she wasn't drinking, as she nearly choked again upon hearing his words "What?! Are you saying to leave them behind, stranded?" she was repulsed by the idea, but tried to keep her voice down when he nodded "No, I-I couldn't, they're in the same situation as me!"

The Walrider sounded both mildly annoyed but unsurprised by her reaction "We do not _need_ them, they are a hindrance to us, Waylon is a permanent red flag to attract Murkoff to our position." Even as he spoke, he did not have high hopes of convincing his host through mere words, despite spending a relatively short amount of time together, he had already gotten a pretty good idea of what kind of person she was.

As expected, she shook her head and kept refusing "No, I'm sorry, I can't, I just can't, I would hate myself if I did that, you would have to force me." She had no idea why she spoke the last part, but she instantly regretted it and wished he wouldn't agree to act on it.

To her relief, he didn't seem interested, but he didn't say anything else either. The short silence allowed her mind to wander, and wander it did, right back to the bathroom in the Buena Vista inn. A slight frown of disgust settled on her face as she turned and glanced back down the highway in the direction of the town. As shocked and scared as she was at the scene in the bathroom, and as opposed as she was at his suggestion of leaving the Parks behind, she couldn't shake the thoughts of what would have happened if he hadn't been there. When she turned back and looked at him, her disgust was quickly replaced with a feeling of gratitude, and she gathered some courage to express it.

"Listen, I.. I'm sorry for freaking out about that creep. I just.. guess I'm not used to seeing the flesh melt off of people like that." She bit her lip lightly, then glanced at the ground ahead "But in all seriousness… Thank you. I.. don't even want to think what would've happened if you hadn't been there. That loud music, probably no one would have heard me over it, and.. yeah.." Admittedly, it was a bit difficult to get it out, she wasn't used to situations like this.

"I complied with your.. rather demanding request, of not killing the human. Do not get used to it."

She blinked in surprise, then chuckled nervously "Oh.. Damn, you have a funny way of showing mercy and not killing someone."

He shrugged lightly "It is not mercy. It was very challenging to not make that bathroom resemble the laboratory."

Alyssa suppressed a shudder as the images of bodies torn to pieces, innards splattered everywhere and blood painting the walls flashed through her mind in quick succession, she tried to push them away with a bad joke

"Well maybe you should have. I mean, now we have a guy running around telling people a shadow monster melted the meat off his arm. A bit problematic."

She was only semi-serious, and so was he, when he suddenly stood up and turned in the direction of the town they left

"It isn't too late."

A brief but rather loud laugh escaped her, and she quickly stood up too, raising her hands to her chest in front of him

"No, no, no! It _is_ too late, the guy's guts will remain inside him!"

He slowly lifted off the ground until his feet were a few inches above it, and crossed his arms "Like I said, human, do not get used to it." Although his words sounded serious, she still sensed a mellow feeling, it further put her nerves at ease.

After leaning to look past him and glancing over to the car, she walked around him and stepped towards the vehicle "Come on, I kept them waiting long enough already."

Returning to the car, she sat back down at the driver's seat, keeping the window down, slammed the door shut and locked, then put her seat belt in place and took a few more swigs of water. The children were sleeping, and Lisa looked like she was about to fall asleep as well.

"Uh.." Waylon kept his voice down, but seemed reluctant to speak "Is everything alright? I heard you crying, then.. sorry, were you laughing?" he asked awkwardly, in case he had misheard the cries as laughter.

"Huh? Ooh, yeah." She whispered back with a faint smile "I'm fine. The phone call was.. difficult. But I wasn't alone." Ignoring the slightly unsettled frown on the man's face, she gently stepped on the gas and sped down the road again.

Even so, she couldn't ignore her own feelings, she didn't fully understand how her heartache upon talking to her mother was so intense, which was as expected, but then seemed to ease so quickly in the next minutes. A soft sigh left her lips.

 _Don't be so naive, he just needs you to stay alive._

A few minutes later of driving partially absentmindedly, her stomach growled again.

"Right, Lisa got us something to eat, here." Waylon whispered as he turned around and pulled a plastic bag with some food from behind his seat and placed it between it and the driver's seat.

"Oh, thanks." Alyssa said and grabbed a banana, carefully driving with one hand as she ate "What about you, aren't you hungry?" she asked when she noticed the man rest his chin on his palm and gaze out the side window.

He shook his head lightly, then hesitantly reached for a can of soup "I'm fucking starving, but I have no appetite, my stomach feels shot, I can't stop thinking…" his voice faded as he remembered the woman's multiple gunshot wounds "Uh, sorry, poor choice of words."

Alyssa chuckled briefly "Don't worry, but that reminds me.. The corporate cops that shot me were killed, but Wernicke wasn't.. He escaped. Even if he thinks they killed me, Murkoff obviously isn't going to find my body. You think he'll be able to describe me to them or something?" she asked with a hint of concern, keeping her eyes on the road, but Waylon spoke without missing a beat

"The old bastard could barely see, so I highly doubt it. But they'll know there was an intruder I guess."

She swallowed another piece of banana "Well.. I'm afraid I already left them some hints about that anyway…"

The man took a few more gulps of the soup, it was easy to tell he was forcing himself to eat out of necessity.

"If I may ask.. what exactly can't you stop thinking about?" she whispered reluctantly, remembering well enough how traumatic her own journey through the asylum was, not doubting that his was the same, or even worse.

Waylon lowered the soup can from his lips; sighing, he squeezed the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes. Understandably, he was hesitant to speak, and Alyssa assured him "Sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm just-"

"No, it's fine, fuck it, maybe getting it out of my head will help. Don't know, don't want to make you my therapist or something, it's nothing any sane person should hear anyway." he waved a hand dismissively and sipped some more soup.

It wasn't that she disagreed, she knew his experience must have been hellish as well, but apart from her morbid sense of curiosity, she also wanted to know if he could tell her anything else about Murkoff or the asylum that she didn't know

"I'd like to hear it, actually, if you're okay with recalling all that.. It's hard for me too, but I can answer some questions as well if you wish."

Before speaking, he discreetly glanced over his shoulder, and noticed his wife seemed to be asleep. After another pause, he whispered while keeping his gaze ahead, in the distant darkness of the road beyond what the headlights could illuminate

"I remember how it all began. This job, showing out of nowhere, just in time to cover our bills, the debt, the insurance, it seemed perfect. Driving to the asylum, listening to AM radio, Gospel, Country-Western, late night paranoiac talk radio. I laughed at them, at their conspiracy theories drivel. I thought it was ridiculous, until I started working at the asylum, and it happened to me, and I began seeing it with my own eyes. Talk about getting a wake-up call. I can't stop thinking about it, I can't believe I worked for them, Alyssa. I can't fucking forgive myself, I _helped_ those people, I helped them torture those patients. Yeah it was only for several months, until I really began to understand what was happening, but still.. fuck, what's wrong with those people, my ex-coworkers, what the fuck was wrong with them? I talked to many of them, they were working down there for years, Alyssa, for _years_ they knew the shit they were doing to people there, and they did _nothing!_ "

The more Waylon spoke, the more distraught he became, and he had to make an increasing effort to keep his voice down, which was a cocktail of guilt, anger, remorse and sorrow.

Alyssa gave him a sad glance, his words mirrored some of her own questions and experience upon going through the horrors of the asylum.

"That's what I kept wondering myself when I saw what happened at Mount Massive.. I wish I had an answer, Mr. Park, but I really don't. Maybe some people are just born that way.. Goes back to the old dilemma of nature vs nurture, are monsters born, or made? But please don't blame yourself, I do that too much and it sucks, at least _we_ did something, we're not like them, okay? Sure we might be screwed now, but at least our conscience is clear." Only after saying it did she realize how absurd that sounded, she laughed dryly "Heh.. but our clear conscience ain't gonna help us much when we're dragged kicking and screaming into the back of a van.."

The man scoffed and he pushed himself to eat some more "Normally I'd say over my dead body, but if our evidence doesn't make front page headlines real soon, it might as well happen.." his voice faded melancholically, but then his attention was attracted by a small meow, he looked down to see Peanut sniffle around and put his front paws on the man's leg

"What do you want, we already fed you before we left Buena Vista." he spoke in a more lighthearted soft tone and reached in the bag. Finding a small fish can, he opened it up and placed it down, the cat sniffed the meat then began munching on it. "Little fatass.." He whispered jokingly with a quick smile and briefly stroked the cat's fur.

Alyssa had a small smile at the scene too, it also reminded her how she missed having a pet. As Waylon leaned back in his seat, however, his demeanor became very serious again, almost sad.

"They weren't all monsters, Alyssa." He continued when the woman gave him a questioning look "The patients, I know you must've met a lot of freaks that tried to hurt you in there, but I know, I know they weren't all like that. Murkoff is responsible, Murkoff were making monsters. I talked to some of them when I caught the chance, they were sick, yeah, but they were not all murderers, shit, I heard some of them didn't even have any criminal record nor medical issues at all. The Morphogenic Engine, Wernicke's so-called therapy, it was so much worse than I imagined when I was sitting behind a desk writing code for it like a fucking idiot. Only when I was dragging myself through the blood and guts of the asylum did I realize what I really did, what the Engine was doing to those people. They were still human, but it was as if something was ripped out of them, their very humanity, I don't know, but they were something more than human, and at the same time, something less. Shit, I'm not making sense, the movies they made me watch got into my head, I heard Dr. Roset talking in the cafeteria about how the Engine had 'varying effects', that's why they called the poor bastards Variants, the outcomes are too erratic for predictions. That, and it dehumanized them, made it easier for the sick fucks that knew what they were doing and lowered the risk of them doing what I did, spilling the beans; you wouldn't believe the things you can do to a human being when you consider them less than human."

The more Waylon spoke, the more disheartened and uncomfortable Alyssa felt. It was the truth, she didn't doubt that, as she'd seen some of it with her own eyes, but it still hurt, it hurt her faith in humanity, something she had been struggling with long before she even considered approaching Mount Massive Asylum.

"You're right.. I know, I learned about Unit 731 a long time ago, for one.." she tried to hide a quiet sigh "Dehumanizing others can allow some people to turn into monsters.. but.. did it get _that_ bad in the asylum?"

Waylon shook his head quickly "Fuck no, not as bad as 731, but still, pretty damn horrific as you saw yourself. There were so many bodies.. Patients, doctors, nurses, guards, you name it. I know it sounds awful, but I don't really blame the poor bastards for beating the living shit out of their 'doctors' the moment they got their hands on them, I know I would. I wouldn't kill em, but I'd have a lot of payback to give with my fists."

His last sentence made her shudder internally, not because she blamed him either, but because it reminded her of the 'payback' that Dr. Meyer had to suffer through, and that was only what she was forced to witness.

 _God knows what happened to her after they took her away…_

"What _did_ they do to you, Mr. Park? If you feel comfortable enough to share.. You said Murkoff found out you tried to spill the beans on them."

Understandably, the man was reluctant to speak, a slight subconscious frown grew on his face as he stared at nothing, recalling the memories. His voice eventually came as a whisper

"Kicked the shit out of me, strapped me to a chair and made me watch the.. Engine. The movies. They were like Rorschach patterns, flowing, moving like they were alive, they'd get into your head and buzz, like a sort of frequency, a static that I felt inside my brain, I tried to resist but it didn't matter, it was absorbing. I.." he paused when he glanced over and saw the young woman give him a very concerned, almost scared look "Shit, I sound like one of those crazies, don't I? How much did it affect me?"

Alyssa bit her lip, but tried to reassure both the man and herself "N-no, not really, don't worry, judging from the documents I read, the patients would be subjected to that so-called therapy for a long time, but you said it was only a few days in your case? I think you'll be fine, don't stress over it."

Waylon swallowed and rubbed his forehead "Yeah, guess you're right, but I can't get that scene out of my head.. Did you ever pass through one of those decontamination chambers? Small rooms where some green gas is pumped into for a few seconds." The woman nodded and he continued "Right, I was behind a console, watching inside that room through a window, and a doctor stepped in, he quickly asked me to help him cause he's a doctor, but when he saw the patient rags they dressed me in, he immediately changed his story and said he's a patient 'like me'. I.. I didn't do anything. The door opened, and a patient got in, he saw the guy was a doctor and lunged at him. Grabbed the doc's head and kept smashing his face against the glass until he died. And I just stood there.. with the only thing going through my head being 'thank god it's not me'…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I would've thought the same, Mr. Park. I know it sounds horrible, and I don't wish death upon anyone, but at the end of the day, it's every man for himself when it comes to survival, especially in such a crazy situation where people like those patients are running around. They were victims, but they were dangerous regardless, there's no point in feeling guilty about it now, there's nothing you could've done, they were everywhere."

The man seemed to physically relax at her words "Shit, I guess so.. but I wish it was the worst part that I saw. God forbid, I hope you didn't come across the cannibal guy?"

A slight frown of disgust formed on Alyssa's face "No?.. Not sure I even want to know."

"Or the sick motherfucker who tried to mutilate dozens of men into women? Jesus Christ, there were so many, hanging from the ceiling like pieces of meat in a slaughterhouse.."

She had no idea why she asked for clarification "What.. do you mean?"

Waylon shook his head as he finished his soup and grabbed something else to eat, but waited until he finished speaking "Some twisted piece of shit was kidnapping other patients, chopping up their junk with a buzz saw, trying to turn them into women cause he wanted a 'bride'. He got me.. he nearly got me, if it wasn't for another guy intervening, I would've been hanging with the rest of them. When that pole went through his body and pulled his shredded guts out of his belly.. I tried not to laugh, I swear to god, I tried not to laugh…"

Alyssa swallowed and her frown deepened, but again, she tried to reassure him "It's okay Mr. Park, he sounds like a real monster, no one's blaming you. Be glad you got out of there in one piece, I sure am. I mean, I saw some twisted crap too, but it sounds like you had it worse, sounds like I avoided some really fucked up stuff."

"Yeah.. What _did_ you see, though? If you want to talk about it."

She finished her banana and grabbed something else to eat while she tried not to allow the traumatic images to resurface in her mind too much

"Well, apart from being moments away from having my head ripped off my shoulders twice, nearly bleeding to death from a severe leg injury, running for my life from a sadistic criminal transferred from a maximum security prison, being forced to watch as patients raped a female doctor, having it nearly happen to me by said sadistic criminal, and having the life scared out of me by.. well, no matter. Did you ever hear about a patient called Father Martin?"

The man gave her a sympathetic look upon hearing her list "Yeah, but not much.. Pretty depressing that they had a preacher patient in a mental asylum. Let alone in Mount Massive, poor bastard, where's God when you need him."

"Truth be told, I don't know if he was a real preacher, but he sure acted like it. He had a following, a cult."

Waylon scoffed "Can't really say I'm surprised, crazy abandoned people are more prone to searching for the deeper meaning of things. I'm assuming he led a Christian cult? I saw some crosses painted on the walls with blood.."

When Alyssa swallowed and paused, the man questioned her in a wary tone "What?"

"Well.. it did have some Christian traits, but.. the figure Father Martin and his flock worshiped is not exactly.. Christ-like, to say the least.." She continued when he gave her a questioning look for details "He.. he self-immolated. On a cross, in the asylum chapel. In front of me. They forced me to watch, I avoided looking as much as I could, but I still heard the.. screams. God, the agonizing screams. I heard them in my nightmares back in Leadville.."

His jaw dropped slightly as he frowned in disbelief "Self-immolated? He set _himself_ on _fire_? How fucked in the head do you have to be to.. Damn, sorry you had to watch that, I'd argue that's one of the worst ways to die."

Alyssa nodded as she tried to keep the preacher's screams from resurfacing in her mind again, it took some effort. "Yes, he was.. very ill, obviously. He kept telling me I'm his apostle for some reason. I don't know why he made me watch him burn to death, he said I had to 'witness' it, something about his God, who knows, man was severely sick in the head, hope he found peace."

"So what 'God' was it? You looked a bit scared when I asked you about his cult."

As much as she wanted to be sincere, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him those particular details, as they would quickly lead to more questions whose answers would frighten him.

"Alyssa, what was it?" his tone was very serious but not demanding "Tell me, how bad can it be? I told you the worst stuff I've seen."

She rubbed the side of her head and whispered "Yes, but.. those things remained at the asylum."

When his expression quickly turned grim and questioning, she took a deep breath and decided to be fully honest "Okay Mr. Park.. I guess I should tell you everything I know, you deserve that much. Don't give me that look, I don't have any insider information or anything like that, I only learned most of it from him recently. The one Father Martin and his cult worshiped. The Walrider."

As expected, Waylon's concerned and somewhat scared frown deepened, he spoke in a dead serious, barely audible whisper "Tell me everything. I saw it in the lab twice when I worked at the asylum, what the fuck is it?"

Alyssa nodded and squeezed the steering wheel slightly

"Very well.. Where should I start.. From the beginning, I guess. He told me that Project Walrider was originally started by Germans before world war two, they opened some sort of gateway that he came through from god knows where, he said his memory is foggy from around that time. I don't know all the details, but apparently, Project Walrider eventually came under the administration of the Murkoff corporation, they later bought the Mount Massive asylum to continue the research the Germans did, and.. Well, I'm not really sure of the science of it, I just know that he's made of nanites, these microscopic robots that he can use to.. kill people. Or save them. He saved my life like that, Murkoff's thugs put like a magazine of bullets in my torso, but the nanites kept me from dying and healed my wounds. But the Walrider needs a host, and not anyone will do, some sort of frequency has to match, or else the host's body gets.. riddled with tumors and all sorts of horrible things, symptoms we saw in the patients, they were like failed experiments, as bad as that sounds. Since he needs a host, Murkoff was able to keep him captive by keeping his host captive, because there's like a maximum range of distance that he can go from his host, which means we have to stay relatively close.. But still, since I'm his host now, we're both free." she flashed an uneasy smile, then paused "At least as free as we can be when Murkoff is after us.. Anyway, he.. needs me to stay alive. That's why he protects me.. And, to be perfectly honest, after I realized that, it became the main reason why I want to stick around you guys. I know it sounds scary, but, I just thought, if he has to protect me, and I'm with you, you guys will be safer too. So.. I think that's it, in a nutshell."

By the time she finished, Waylon's jaw was hanging down, he leaned back in his seat and whispered while gazing out the window into the darkness "Holy shit.. and.. he's following us?"

"Yes, he can hear us right now, actually, and I hope I didn't piss him off with that protection part." she chuckled briefly but nervously.

A heavy sigh was heard from the man, then a few long seconds of silence "I need a minute.."

She nodded and bit her lip lightly "I understand, it's a lot to process."

A small yawn left her, she reached for the bottle of water she drank from earlier and took a few more gulps. The slight sensation of the refreshing summer night wind reached her skin, and she lowered the window further to feel more of it. It was rare that she drove at night, and while she enjoyed it, driving at night and in the country-side felt even better, it gave her a sense of freedom, despite the situation they were in. She leaned her head slightly towards the window, and a faint smile formed on her face at the calming feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, the relaxation she felt only made her realize how tense and anxious she had been recently.

 _Man, all this stress can't be good for me.._

A couple of small water droplets suddenly landed on the windshield, and within a minute, they were followed by enough others that she had to turn on the windshield wipers. The rain was still light, she glanced up at the sky only to see it overcast, but the street lamps and the car's headlights were providing sufficient light for the road.

Slightly adjusting the rear view mirror, she gazed behind and noticed a pair of headlights approaching from the distance. Since that had happened quite a few times already as other cars passed by at higher speeds, she initially paid it no mind, but when the lights suddenly went off, it raised a few questions in her mind. She squinted and tried to get a better look, but whatever vehicle was behind them was nearly completely enveloped in the darkness.

Another quiet minute passed, and with nothing happening, whatever mild tension that rose in her after the curious event had faded, Waylon's sudden voice further captured her attention

"All those bodies.. I saw a lot of people torn to pieces, Alyssa. The patients couldn't have done that, it was that.. Walrider thing, wasn't it?"

She turned to the man, he seemed still thoughtful, but much more calm and composed "To be perfectly honest, yes, but not all of them. Most were killed by another swarm that was directed by the previous host, Billy, who was still in the asylum by the time I left. I don't think he has access to nanites anymore, and the poor kid was really disturbed, I don't think he killed out of malice, hopefully the police stormed the asylum by now and took everyone to safety."

Waylon remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded slowly "Not all of them, but some.. What aren't you telling me? You said you'd tell me all you know."

It was her turn to hesitate, but not for long "Like I said Mr. Park, the Walrider needs a host, and if you keep the host captive, you keep the Walrider captive, with proper security measures, I would assume. Like any.. uh, person? He wanted to be free, so he said he searched for hosts, but none of them were good, and the testing process was.. kind of brutal, the exploded bodies we saw were the results of a human not being a suitable host."

There was one more thing that was nagging at her to speak out, she was reluctant because she felt she had scared him enough already, however, it wasn't too difficult to convince herself otherwise.

 _He deserves to know the whole truth._

He opened his mouth to respond, but she spoke first "I'm not going to lie by omission to you. He said finding a host wasn't the only reason he killed people. He was imprisoned for decades, he said he started killing people out of anger and frustration at not being able to find a way out.. I don't need to tell you that he is dangerous, Mr. Park, but he doesn't seem to like Murkoff either, since they only prolonged his captivity. Like I told you back then, if he wanted to harm us, we would've been long dead, and considering the fact that he has to keep me alive, I think it would be safer if we stuck together, but if you want, we could split up. I don't think I can make him go away, so if it makes you and your family feel any safer, we could go our separate ways, but in my opinion, I think it would only put you guys in more danger from Murkoff. So.. it's your call. That's about all I know."

Unsurprisingly, the man seemed to be struggling with the information and decision she laid in front of him. He exhaled heavily and rested his forehead in his palm "So.. I've got to choose between sticking with the homicidal monster that Murkoff had in shackles and be safer from them while risking waking up with my guts all over the walls… and separating, without said monster to help us against Murkoff because you wouldn't be with us. Fuckin' hell…"

"He doesn't kill people for no reason, so I think our guts will safely remain inside us." Alyssa interjected rather quickly "But overall, that's about right.. I don't want to be a burden or anything, if you feel I'm endangering you, please let me know. Sorry I haven't told you earlier, but I learned most of this very recently." She said, but on the inside, she was very much hoping that he wouldn't choose to split up. A part of her insisted her wish was selfish, but she couldn't help it, she really didn't want to split up, and it wasn't as if she was lying, she really did feel it was safer to stick together.

"I can't decide by myself, I'm gonna have to talk this over with Lisa.." the man whispered.

Alyssa nodded "I understand, no rushing."

Leaning back in her seat, she physically relaxed as she sighed softly, and the rain began dropping heavier and faster. A distant rolling thunder further calmed her, for whatever reasons, thunderstorms always made her feel at ease, unless they were truly severe and she was out in the open.

"Another tough decision for us…" Lisa's sleepy voice startled both of them.

Waylon looked over his shoulder at his wife "Oh Jesus.. I thought you were asleep, baby. How much did you hear?"

The woman shrugged lightly "From when you remembered how the Murkoff job seemed to come right on time to fix all our problems.. I wanted to fall asleep, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it sounded like you needed to talk about that stuff.. Didn't want to make you keep it bottled up, it's not good for you."

The man sighed heavily "I never wanted you to know the details of the vile shit I went through in the asylum, it's enough that I have to deal with it, I don't want you exposed to it."

Lisa lightly shook her head dismissively "it's okay now.. I heard what Alyssa said. The.. choice we have." Her husband nodded slowly then turned to gaze into the darkness again.

"Take your time, Mrs. Park, I want you to know that I won't hold it against you if you decide to go our separate ways." Alyssa whispered back, as the children were still sleeping peacefully.

"I appreciate that, honey, I don't want to split up, it's just.." her voice faded and her hand reached for the crucifix on her chest "I'm afraid.."

Alyssa swallowed but nodded "A feeling I've grown very familiar with, lately. Don't worry-"

All three of them flinched when all of a sudden, a very bright light illuminated from behind. When they turned to look, they noticed the unusually bright high beams of a large vehicle fairly close and slowly approaching.

"Waylon?.." Lisa whispered with a hint of concern.

"It's alright, probably just some asshole.." the man spoke, but there was caution in his voice as well.

Alyssa's heart picked up the pace slightly, even as half a minute passed with nothing happening, and she found it difficult to keep her gaze away from the rear view mirror. The seconds seemed to tick away slower the closer the vehicle came, and her breath became shallower.

 _Relax, they'll just drive past._ She took a deep breath as the others seemed to dismiss it and wait for the other car to drive ahead past them very soon.


	20. Chapter 20

Then, a sudden odd, muffled noise sparked Alyssa's attention, almost sounding like a projectile slicing through the air. A slight frown grew on her face, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her, until she heard it again, a somewhat whistling noise, but barely audible through the rain.

 _What the?.._ It was heard fairly close to the window, and, focusing her hearing, she decided to lean towards it slightly in an effort to check if it happened again, and if she could figure out what it was.

She leaned only a few inches to the left, and the side view mirror exploded into dozens of pieces of glass, plastic and metal. Before she jumped and reflexively rose an arm to protect herself, one thin shard flew towards her face and dug into her cheek, a thin line of blood beginning to trail down to her jaw.

"Holy fuck!" Waylon exclaimed and his wife screamed briefly, while the car shortly swerved before Alyssa stabilized it. At the same time, the Walrider's voice in her head rang all the alarms.

 **_We're under fire, keep your head down!_ **

Immediately, she shouted to the others while lowering herself in her seat as much as she could, enough that the road ahead was still visible to her "They're shooting at us, get down, get down!" she gestured with her hand frantically, both Waylon and Lisa ducked low, the woman pushing her children down on the back seat then trying to reassure them when they woke up confused and scared.

Another bullet hit and damaged the window frame, only centimeters from piercing through the glass.

 _Oh my god, they're really shooting at us, what do I do, what the hell do I do?!_

"Step on it!" Waylon shouted while keeping his head down, as if reading her mind.

Trying to keep her feet steady, she complied and drastically accelerated, but still heard a few more suppressed shots whistling by. The frightening thought struck her, that if they hit a tire, it would be very difficult to keep the vehicle from rolling out of control and crashing. Her heart was threatening to beat its way out of her chest as her mind raced faster than the car, in a desperate search for any solutions, but none came to mind, she had never been in a situation even remotely similar.

She was well over the speed limit, and the faster she drove, the more scared she became, as keeping the car under control grew increasingly difficult with the rising speed. Her hands gripped the steering wheel like a vice and made short abrupt adjustments while trying to keep everything stable.

Throwing a panicked glance behind, she was even more shaken to see that the other vehicle was still on their tail, farther behind than before, but accelerating and approaching again. By that point, she was going so fast she was too afraid to speed up further, she rose in the seat slightly higher and angled the mirror to get a better rear view, only to see the opponent car catching up to them rapidly.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_

"Dad!?" Alex shouted anxiously as his mother held him and his brother down as close to the backseat as she could, leaning over them.

"They're still on us, stay down, we have to lose them!" Waylon spoke loudly, but realized that they were on an open deserted road between empty fields, there was nowhere to go for cover.

Another bullet damaged the left front fender, dangerously close to the wheel.

 _Oh my god, they're really trying to hit the tires!_

"We have to get to a town! T-they'd have to stop chasing us in a town!" Lisa shouted from behind, noticeably shaken.

"We're twenty minutes from the closest town ahead, we won't make it!" Her husband responded, and Alyssa bit her lip hard.

In the midst of chaos, a sudden idea struck her, at first thought it seemed too dangerous, she felt hesitant, but she told herself they'd be lucky if they could keep going for two more minutes without getting a bullet through the tires or worse, let alone twenty.

"Hold on tight, everyone!" she shouted and braced herself. After throwing a quick glance to make sure her seat belt was still on, she swerved to the other side of the road until the other car wasn't directly behind them anymore. She slowed down fairly rapidly, then slammed her foot on the brakes.

The sudden deceleration was harsh for everyone, the tires screeched and slid on the wet hard concrete until they stopped completely, but it was very satisfying to see the other car continue driving ahead, quickly distancing away.

They barely had time to recover before Alyssa stomped on the pedal and did a very abrupt 180 turn, the engine roared loudly as she sped down the road again. As she accelerated, she glanced in the mirror and wasn't surprised to see the headlights in the distance were no longer moving away, but they were turned around as well and tailing them again.

"Good shot, but they're still on us. We're going back to Buena Vista this way." Waylon spoke as he looked behind at the painfully persistent vehicle.

"I know, it's closer than twenty minutes in the other direction!" Her heart felt like it was about to give up on her, she still almost found it difficult to believe this was really happening.

Glancing in the mirror again, she had to do a double take when she noticed how fast the car was approaching again.

 _Holy crap! My car is modded to shit, there's no way that's a normal car, they'd never be able to keep up like this! It must be them, they found us, so soon?!_

Waylon's distressed words mirrored her thoughts "Are you fucking kidding me, they're already catching up!"

Alyssa's eyes frantically scanned around outside for assistance, a dirt road to take advantage of, trees or buildings to get lost through, the lights of any closer small town, even another passing car that they could signal for help. There was nothing, nothing but wide open dark fields, occasionally illuminated by a flash of lightning from the sky.

She didn't drive in a straight line on purpose, but her attention was returned to the vehicle behind them as a short scream escaped her when another bullet hit the top of the window frame. Looking behind, she was shocked to see the other car was only several meters behind them at that point.

Worse, to her horror, they were accelerating even closer, but not directly at their six anymore, they swerved to the left and began approaching the side of the car from that direction. The grisly realization hit her.

 _Christ, they're either trying to pit us, or get closer to have a clear shot at the driver!_

Her mind began racing again, she considered decelerating and repeating the maneuver from earlier, but was afraid to slow down because this time they were so much closer, if she slowed down, she would put them directly parallel to the other car. Admittedly, only for a short period of time, but the risk of catching a bullet to the brain in that short period terrified her.

The rising panic was interrupted when all of a sudden, the driver side door was briefly swung open, even in the powerful wind. The seat belt kept her securely in place, it was only for half a second that she caught a glimpse of the darkening cloud gathering, accompanied by a familiar eerie low growl.

Alyssa slowed down partly unintentionally as the nanite cloud launched towards the other car with blinding speed and so much force that it momentarily pushed the vehicle up on its back wheels and abruptly slowed it down. A gaping hole was left through the windshield on the driver's side, and what was left of the glass was instantly sprayed and soaked in blood.

"What the-" Waylon exclaimed when their car slowed enough that the other drove past them, very erratically, until it went off road to the right and into the field. The ground was level only for several meters to the side, after that, it abruptly sloped down where it led to a small shallow stream. Their gazes followed the unsteady vehicle that soon slid on the wet mud at still relatively high speed, then began rolling down the steep hill. As they drove past, they heard the loud noises of the crash, of the metal bending and smashing as it fell against the ground and rocks of the stream, the car rocked back and forth before settling in an upside down position in the very shallow water.

Even as everyone was trying to process what just happened, they couldn't help feeling increasingly relieved at the neutralized threat, yet Alyssa couldn't say the same. The moment she realized she was now looking behind her and distancing from the other vehicle, a very uncomfortable feeling began growing inside her. Partly subconsciously and partly intentionally, she started to slow down.

"What are you doing, keep going, we need to get back to town in case there's more of them!" Waylon spoke trying to calm himself as he glanced behind them.

They rose up in their seats, but were still shaken, and still kept their guards up. Alyssa could understand the man's logic, yet every meter away from the crash site made her feel gradually more and more uneasy, her leg began slightly quivering in anxiety and she made an effort to keep her foot steady on the pedal.

 _I need to stop._ The thought struck her, and she decelerated further.

She couldn't stop glancing behind them, and felt frustrated at the inexplicable urge to slam on the breaks and go check on the car the Walrider pierced into, the feeling was similar to the one she had back at the Park house when she sensed he wasn't around anymore. It wasn't as severe and panic-inducing, but with every passing second, it kept growing and threatened to become just like it and worse.

"Alyssa, speed up, we have to get to safety, please" Lisa spoke slightly leaning towards the driver seat.

The younger woman shook her head "I-I know." She definitely agreed, she was still scared, she didn't know if there were any other threats like the one that was disabled lurking nearby and she wanted to get to the safety of the town before any more surprises showed up. At the same time, she couldn't ignore the now downright unsettling feeling in her stomach, she felt compelled to stop and run back.

 _This isn't good, I'm going too far, I have to go back.._

She swallowed and hoped she wasn't about to endanger everyone for bizarre reasons she couldn't explain herself.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, then swerved to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks. As the car wasn't going fast anymore, it only took a few moments to stop dead in its tracks.

Before anyone got the chance to protest, she already unbuckled her seat belt, pushed the cracked door open and dashed outside.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Waylon shouted from behind, but she only started sprinting in the opposite direction from Buena Vista.

"I'll be back in a minute! Go back to town if there's trouble, I'll meet you there!" she shouted back, and even if she received an answer, she couldn't hear it, as a sudden loud thunder cracked in the sky.

The distance from her car to the other crashed one wasn't too long, but the trip was made difficult by the rain and wind, both of which had significantly intensified. She rose an arm and tried to shield her face with her forearm while she ran as fast as she could; she had only been outside for several seconds, but the heavy rain already soaked her.

The street lamps were much too far apart from each other for her liking, and the light from them could have been brighter, something she didn't notice nor was bothered by in the comfort of the car with its headlights, but she kept running.

A few seconds later, she thought she heard the sound of a car approaching, so she dashed over off the road and crouched into the fairly tall vegetation. As much as she would've liked to see another car and ask them to call for help, she reminded herself that the situation was no ordinary emergency, and there was the risk that the other car could be driven by the same type of people that just tried to kill them.

 _It must've been Murkoff, who else would attack a seemingly random car and try to kill the passengers like that.._ She thought as she waited nervously for nearly half a minute, but no other vehicle passed.

 _Dammit!_ Realizing that she might have simply misheard the sound of the wind, she rose back to her feet and resumed her run down the street. The mud stuck to her boots made her slip, but she caught herself, then stomped and rubbed her feet on the concrete to remove it, the heavy rain was only intensified by the wind, it somewhat hurt as it pelted her skin, especially when it hit the still sensitive spots of her almost healed wounds.

Just when she caught sight of a flickering headlight some distance ahead and down in the slope, a sudden booming noise made her jump and almost stumble, it was even louder than the thunder. She slowed down in fright and hesitated, then flinched again when the noise repeated. This time, she heard it clearer, it sounded like a shotgun. The internal debate on what to do that just started in her head was cut very short when a loud scream erupted from the same direction almost immediately, it sounded like a man in pain.

She swallowed, but shook her head, clearing some of the water running down her face in the process.

 _He has to be there, get moving!_ Approaching the crash site, she remained up on the edge of the hill where she crouched down and squinted, the broken headlight had stopped working completely in the rain, she could barely see anything anymore.

Before she even managed to convince herself to carefully climb down the slope, she only took a small step forward and the wet mud under her feet began sliding with her weight. By the time she realized it, it was too late, she was already tumbling down the rather steep slope. She tried to dig her fingers into the ground, but it was too soft to give her a grip, all she managed to do was stick it under her nails.

When she finally landed, she did it awkwardly on her feet, before she rolled forward once more and caught herself on her hands. A sudden brief but sharp pain in her left ankle made her groan, but an unfamiliar distressed voice caught her attention, she blinked in an attempt to clear her vision and squinted ahead where the voice came from.

"I told you, I don't know, I swear!"

A very short but bright lightning flash illuminated the entire area, instantly answering many of Alyssa's unspoken questions. The crashed car was a dark blue SUV with tinted windows, identical to the one she saw more than once in Buena Vista. Through the broken part of the windshield, she could see a man whose entire lower face, neck, and upper chest region was severely damaged, it almost looked like he was caught in the range of a grenade blast. The dead man seemed to be wearing a sort of dark uniform, she could see a black t-shirt, Kevlar body armor, and a black ball cap.

While the sight of the corpse was disturbing, she quickly turned her attention to the other two figures. The Walrider was crouched next to the other man, who wore the same attire as the dead one, the human was laying on his back, with his left arm bent backwards, clearly broken at the elbow, and the swarm's hand around his neck.

Her eyes widened in fright at the scene, but when the Walrider suddenly brought his other hand to the man's head and swiftly twisted his neck over 180 degrees, she was glad she could barely see anything with no lightning to give her a clear view. While the heavy rain masked the gruesome sound of the man's neck breaking, she still heard the bone-chilling raspy growl of the swarm.

"What are you doing here?!" he shouted, and as if that wasn't terrifying to her already, she was now able to clearly sense his anger. It was similar to what she felt in the inn bathroom, although it lacked the sinister murderous intent, yet it still made her blood run cold. When he stood up and began floating towards her, her survival instinct urged that her life was in danger, but even if that was true, she was too frightened to even step back, he was already too close anyway.

She dropped her quivering jaw and tried to speak "I-" she didn't know if he didn't hear her over the rain and wind, but he interrupted her regardless.

"Get back to the car!"

Without a moment of hesitation, she turned on her heel and began climbing the slope back up towards the street. Unsurprisingly, it was more than a little challenging, due to the wet slippery mud, and now the frustrating pain in her ankle as she pushed her foot down too. She moved over towards an area with more plants and grasped onto them, slowly but surely making her way back up.

By the time she reached the street level, she was virtually covered in mud, but a lot of it began to be washed away by the heavy rain.

"Move!" He spoke loudly again, and she didn't dare to look behind, she tried to run, but could only go so fast until the sharp pain upset her left ankle every time she put weight on that foot. She forced herself to walk as fast as she could, and did her best to hide her limp, but she knew he would be able to tell something was wrong. It frightened her further, because he was already furious at her for coming all the way back to the crash site instead of staying in the car, now she was making things even more difficult, as if the situation wasn't bad enough.

One less than careful rushed step made her hiss in pain and stumble, her shoulders rose reflexively as she braced for his reaction upon noticing that she had trouble walking fast.

Much to her surprise, she could actually sense his anger diminish instead of escalate. She slowed her pace and glanced over her shoulder, he was looking down at her, but not for long, he raised his gaze and looked straight ahead.

When she did the same, she began searching for the red tail lights of her car, and a small frown set on her face when she failed to find them.

 _Where is…_ She swallowed at the realization. _Oh god, they left..._

It wasn't that she necessarily blamed them, since she did tell them to return to Buena Vista if they were in trouble, and it wasn't unlikely that they also heard the loud shotgun blasts and got scared. What frightened her, though, was the Walrider's reaction at the fact that they left them behind, the last thing she wanted was for him to be angry at the Parks, because she knew it did not take much to make him become a threat to someone's safety.

To her dread, he questioned her "How far away did you park, human?"

Feeling nauseous with apprehension, she slowed to a halt and reluctantly fully turned around, she had to make an effort to raise her voice enough that he could hear her over the rain.

"They.. they returned to the town."

She put her arms around herself both in cold and in fear when she immediately sensed his anger return.

"They took your car and left you?!" he took a step towards her and she felt herself shrinking away, however, he floated past her, and she struggled to keep up after him.

"No, wait! It's not like that, listen!" she nearly fell backwards when he abruptly stopped and turned to her.

"I told you they were a hindrance, but _you_ did not listen!"

A shiver ran down her spine, she wasn't sure if it was from the cold "N-no, it was my fault!"

Before she got the chance to explain, she inhaled sharply when she felt that murderous intent from earlier, and her stomach sank. Without much thought and ignoring the pain in her ankle, she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his right arm, in an effort to prevent him from going to do what she dreaded he intended to do. He did stop moving and gazed down at her.

"Don't hurt them! I swear it was my fault, I told them, I told them to go back to town if they were in trouble, t-they must've heard those loud bangs and got scared, it was a shotgun, wasn't it? Please, they're a family, they barely know me, you can't blame them for trying to protect their children! And they must be waiting for us back in town! Please, just.. just don't hurt them."

He could feel her trembling, whether that was from the cold, or the deep fear he sensed in her, he couldn't say for sure, it might as well had been both. It was difficult to tell whether there were tears running down her cheeks, or merely rain water; some mud was still on her clothes from when she fell and crawled on the slope, and worse, she was hurt again. For reasons he was unsure of, he thought of all the things she had been through at the asylum, how she had nearly been murdered and scared half to death numerous times, then came back to the present moment. Her mental state was not much better than when she was still stuck in the asylum.

Pity was not something he often felt, in fact, he couldn't remember the last time he found something pitiful, but this time, he found his anger quickly deflating. Gazing down at her quivering form on his arm, he spoke in a calm tone that seemed to take her off guard.

"Why did you go back?"

Alyssa blinked in surprise, then quickly released his arm and stepped back, feeling a little awkward, both at her action and at what she was about to say.

"I just.. felt strange. I don't really know-" then she remembered a better answer "I-it's that thing, you told me before, there's a maximum distance that we can be from each other, right? I didn't want to exceed that."

He responded without missing a beat, in a slightly louder voice. "You should have remained in the car and waited." Making it sound like an obvious fact that she should have known. Which was true, thinking logically, the best course of action would have been to simply pull over and wait for him to return, yet she found herself unable to do that. Her gaze dropped to the ground as she placed a hand over her opposite arm.

"I needed to go back.. I don't understand why.." her voice came almost as a whisper, but much to her relief, she sensed decreasing tension again.

He only floated to the side and waved a hand for her to go "Return to town."

With a nod, she ran her hand down her face to clear some of the water and began stepping towards Buena Vista again. Her ankle still bothered her, but it was tolerable as long as she didn't walk too fast. At the same time, the weather wasn't tolerable at all, and just made the trip more difficult. Doing her best to soldier on, she only hoped they had parked the car in a spot where she could see it fast and easy.

She threw a quick glance over her shoulder and was a bit surprised to see the Walrider hadn't gone invisible, a part of her was afraid a car was going to drive past and see him, but at the same time, the area was so deserted and dark that the risk seemed minimum. The thought made her wonder if she would even be willing to hitchhike back into town, after the adventure with the SUV that tried to shoot them down, she couldn't help feeling paranoid about other passing vehicles.

"They were Murkoff, weren't they?" she asked without looking back, in regard to the men in the crashed car.

"Yes. Field agents. Murkoff began their hunt earlier and on a broader range than Park assumed, too much time was spent in Buena Vista, we must leave immediately and keep moving for a long time."

Alyssa nodded and forced herself to walk faster, despite the pain in her ankle. "Agreed, we need to put as much distance between us and Leadville as possible." She paused and swallowed "Thanks for.. getting them off our tail, by the way. I wish you hadn't.. dispatched them like that, but I guess it's better than getting their bullets to our brains."

Wrapping her arms around herself again and keeping her head down to avoid the rain pelting her in the face, she even missed her jacket with the torn sleeve, it would have very much come in handy against the storm. While she couldn't stop her mind from thinking how close she was to being shot when that bullet went through the mirror and blew it up in her face, it reminded her of another worrisome fact

"Then again, if they contacted their comrades or superiors or whoever they report to and told them our license plates, we're in trouble.."

She raised a hand to her face, feeling something on her cheek; when she poked the spot, she inhaled sharply as a small wave of pain hit her and she felt something hard. Some confusion and mild fear struck her, but she lowered her hand and told herself she had bigger problems for the time being.

"They did not, I covered the rear plate when their lights hit us. Why do you think they spent so much time driving behind us, doing nothing? They were trying to determine why the plate was black."

Alyssa let out a soft sigh upon hearing his words, but then another thought struck her. "Wait, what about back at Buena Vista? Their SUV was stalking us for a while. At least I think so, I saw it once in front of the inn and once driving past us."

"And Park was out of sight the whole time. Remember, human, it's him they want, but keep refusing to distance yourself from them, and Murkoff will soon come after your head as well."

She bit her lip and felt tempted to speak her thoughts out loud, but refrained from doing so. _Yeah, but you won't let them.._

"True, it _was_ dark too, and we left in a hurry, but still.. maybe we should change the plate anyway, just to be safe. I'm afraid we shouldn't do it legally, though, apart from the fact that it's a pain in the ass, I don't want it on record."

"Take one from another car, or I construct a fake one."

Alyssa nodded with both some excitement and nervousness "Understood, the latter sounds safer than stealing one, as long as we don't attract unnecessary attention from the police."

Even though they had made it out alive and were going to make a fast run out of Buena Vista the minute she regrouped with the others, she had to admit their escape wasn't clean; two Murkoff agents were dead in what looked like a lot more than a mere car accident, and now they had to change their license plates in case they had caught sight of them and reported them to their superiors before they were eliminated. Still, she took a deep breath in, and told herself things could have went so much worse, she or one of the Parks could have been killed.

Gazing in the distance, she could barely see a few very faint lights from the town ahead, it still seemed painfully far away, and she wasn't without physical pain either. Frustrated at both the long distance and her inability to run, she forced herself to at least go into a light jog.

It proved to be a mistake and she instantly regretted trying, nearly falling over as the sharp wave of pain hit inside her ankle when she dropped her weight on it in her failed jogging attempt. _Dammit!_ She hissed at the painful discomfort and was forced to resume a slow pace.

Just when she was about to glance over her shoulder at the Walrider hoping that he wasn't too annoyed at her for slowing both of them down, she felt his forearm under her rear, and a small yelp left her when she was lifted off the ground

"W-what are you-"

"We don't have all night, human." He spoke calmly as he began floating towards their destination much faster. Alyssa placed her hands on his chest and kept herself just away enough so that her breasts wouldn't have to press against him; even though she had been cold, she was suddenly starting to feel a slight warmth inside herself.

Admittedly, she felt a bit silly being carried on the arm like a child, but at the same time he was large enough that it was comfortable, and she couldn't lie, it was a great relief to take her weight off of the painful ankle. What wasn't comfortable, however, was the pelting of the rain, since he was going faster, the heavy drops felt to be hitting her harder as well.

Hesitantly, she convinced herself to ignore the warm feeling in her cheeks and turn her face towards the crook of his neck to protect herself from the rain. She felt tense, and her heart thumped harder than usual, but much to her relief, he didn't seem to mind her action.

Looking back over his shoulder, her gaze dropped to the ground and the knee-height vegetation below, which to her seemed to be passing by at great speed. He was floating only a few feet off the side of the road, and when they went past another street lamp, a sudden concerning thought struck her

"What if a car passes by? They could see.."

He spoke without missing a beat, in a casual manner "Then I will drop you."

A slight frown formed on her face and she pouted, they were a good two and a half feet above the ground, dropping her would be especially unpleasant with her upset ankle. Perhaps in another situation she would have gathered the courage to talk back, but at the time, she was far too worn out, and she wasn't sure that he was being serious either, although she wouldn't have been surprised if he was and would do just as he said if he deemed it necessary.

Resting her chin over his shoulder, her gaze dropped to the ground again, and she exhaled out considerable tension. The sight of the vegetation smoothly and quickly passing by beneath them was oddly soothing, but even so, she couldn't help feeling strange for actually relaxing.

 _Christ, what are you doing, this is the killing machine from the asylum!.. Am I losing my damn mind too?_

Her eyes briefly turned to him and she swallowed, but didn't know what to do. Even if she could run, even if the town wasn't so far away on foot and even if she could go faster than he could, she couldn't lie to herself, she much preferred the current method of transportation. Admittedly, a pang of guilt nagged at her, she couldn't help thinking of all the people he brutally killed along the years, a morbid curiosity made her wonder how many of them were there in total, and then, there she was, relaxing in his arms while he carried her.

As unsettled as she figured she should be feeling, she couldn't quite get herself to feel that way, it wasn't that she didn't care, she blamed it on the fact that she was so tired after recently escaping from a life or death situation. A soft sigh left her and her muscles released more tension.

As another minute passed, she suddenly realized that she wasn't feeling the rain pelting her skin anymore, she hadn't felt it in a short while. A slight confused frown set on her face, she looked around, it was definitely still raining heavily, yet she couldn't feel the water hitting her anymore. Thinking about it, she understood there weren't many possible explanations for that, apart from a barrier constructed out of nanobots that she couldn't see either because of the darkness or because it was too thin, likely both; or because of a divine miracle.

She chalked it up to the former explanation, which was immediately followed by the question of why. Not that it bothered her, she very much appreciated it, but she couldn't wrap her head around the reason why he would do that for her.

 _Maybe I'd get bruises from being bombarded so much and he doesn't want to bother fixing them._

Before she even considered getting used to a slightly gentler treatment, he suddenly pulled her head back by the hair to distance her from him just enough to see her face.

"Ack, what is-"

"Be still." He stated, and she froze when he raised a hand towards her face.

She braced herself, not even knowing for what, and waited. A small painful hiss left her when she felt something slightly tear and tingle inside her cheek, but she gritted her teeth and tried not to move. A few seconds later, he pulled something out of her cheek, he briefly held it for her to see before tossing it away. It looked like a thin shard of glass.

"That must be from when the mirror exploded in my face.." she poked the area where the foreign object once pierced the flesh and felt a negligible amount of fading pain. A few drops of blood escaped, but the feeling of not having the shard stuck inside was pleasantly noticeable and got a relieved exhale out of her.

"We're closing in." he said, and she quickly turned to look north, she could see the lights of the town clearly, but now she was growing afraid that someone might see them from a distance. As if reading her mind, he said "You will continue on foot soon." She nodded, until he spoke again "Unless you would prefer me to eliminate any witnesses we might encounter as we approach."

"What!? No, put me down, put me down quick!" she wiggled in his arm slightly but stopped when he briefly squeezed her.

His voice was lower and more gravelly than usual "Relax…"

She glanced around nervously for any people or passing cars while he flew slightly faster. When they spotted a pair of headlights in the distance coming from the town, she gasped alarmed, but before she could protest again, he swiftly slid her down his body and placed her on her feet.

Moments before she landed, she expected another wave of pain to erupt from her ankle when her left foot hit the ground and her weight dropped on it, but much to her surprise, she only barely felt a hint of discomfort in the previously upset joint.

With no other explanations, she assumed it must had been either a temporary issue or that he had done something to fix it without her knowing. The headlights of the car ahead were indeed approaching, she quickly looked behind, but the Walrider's form had already dispersed; the invisible barrier above had also dissipated, and she flinched when the heavy rain hit her again. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't nearly as big of an obstacle that time around, since she was so close to Buena Vista and the pain in her ankle was virtually gone as well. Still, not wanting to risk damaging anything that might had been recently fixed, she only went into a fast walk instead of running.

As she was approaching, she noticed a pair of red tail lights not too far away, on the side of the road; even in the poor lighting, she could distinguish the very familiar dark shape of her car. A brief relieved smile grew on her face, and she increased her pace towards the vehicle, eager to both get some shelter and to drive far away as soon as possible.


	21. Chapter 21

When she reached the car, she noticed Waylon was in the driver's seat, resting his arms and head over the steering wheel. Without realizing that she might spook him, she abruptly knocked on the window rapidly, the man jumped and looked at her, but she rushed around the car and over to the passenger side.

As soon as she got in and slammed the door closed, Lisa spoke up "I'm so sorry Alyssa, w-we heard some gunshots-"

The younger woman interrupted her and signaled to the man "Let's get going, go!" who nodded and did a 180 turn before speeding down the road again.

"I was scared there were more of them and they were going to find us and come after us if we waited any longer!" his wife spoke quickly, she sounded genuinely concerned and apologetic.

Alyssa wrung her hair and reached in the glove compartment for tissues to wipe some of the water off herself, then glanced over in the back seat. The woman and her eldest son looked scared and worried, while the younger one's face was red, as if he had been crying.

"I can't blame you for putting your children's safety ahead of a stranger's, Mrs. Park, don't worry about it now."

Lisa placed her hand over her mouth recalling the close call, but nodded.

"How did you get back so fast? What happened over there, did you find anything?" Waylon asked and drove slightly faster.

"I will probably be surprising no one by saying the ones who chased us were Murkoff agents." Alyssa spoke while trying to dry her hair.

 _I better not catch a cold, last thing I need is to be sick._

"Shit.." the man whispered "What happened to them?"

"They're dead." Alyssa said without missing a beat.

Waylon gave her a slight frown while his wife leaned back in her seat and sighed both in relief and sorrow.

"It was the thing from the asylum, wasn't it? The Walrider?" he spoke more under his breath and Alyssa only nodded, he seemed to notice her unsettled look as her gaze dropped down. "Don't pity them. It's a shame that people have to die but.. they knew damn well what they were doing, they were following orders to kill an innocent family. People like that make me sick, what if it had been their families? They don't care, all they care about is Murkoff's dirty money."

Alyssa exhaled heavily but nodded again, this time with a less somber look on her face "You're right.." then blinked in surprise when he suddenly took a left turn "What are you doing? I thought we were supposed to be going south?"

The man paused only for a few moments "While we were waiting for you, we.. came to some conclusions. Made some decisions."

Alyssa glanced back at his wife but the woman said nothing. Waylon reached for a folded piece of paper on the dashboard and somewhat struggled to unfold it with one hand "Hope you don't mind I looked for a map in your glove box."

A slight puzzled frown set on her face "No.. Why, what's going on?" she helped him unfold the map and hold it over the dashboard.

"Listen, now that Murkoff know our relative location, we can't keep going south. Those guys probably called in their superiors and told them where we were headed, we need to throw them off as much as we can."

Alyssa nodded slowly, beginning to understand his point "That's true.. we're going to have to change our plates as well, to be safe. It won't be a problem, but where do you plan to go? I thought you said your vacation home was in Texas?"

"We're going to Denver."

His answer took her off guard " _Denver?_ "

"It was my fault, Lisa was right, and I made the same mistake again." He clarified before she could ask for details "Subtlety was my mistake. I really thought being discreet was safer, but it isn't, if we keep driving around deserted places like this we're only putting ourselves in more danger; like now, they would've never been able to pull what they did if there were more people around. By sticking with isolated areas we're only making their job easier, we need to start going through the most densely populated places, the more people around, the safer for us, we need to lose ourselves in the crowd."

Alyssa bit her lip thoughtfully "I can see your point…"

The man traced the map with his finger as he spoke "We're still gonna reach Texas, but first we're going back up, to Denver." He poked the spot of the city on the map "After that, we're gonna head east on the interstate and cross over into Kansas, then back down into Oklahoma and finally in Texas. We need to do our best to stick with busy roads and cities. Any questions?"

With a soft exhale, she leaned back in her seat and shook her head slowly "Talk about a detour.."

Waylon shrugged lightly "It's not _that_ long. And I really don't want to repeat that.. incident."

"Me either.. I suppose you're right, we would be safer in crowds. Assuming, of course, that Murkoff isn't willing to endanger bystanders to get to us.."

"I wasn't done." His words drew her interest again, she gave a questioning look "There's gonna be a lot of CCTV cameras, I don't doubt Murkoff can get access to their footage, we need to change our appearance."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow semi-seriously "I don't know about you guys but I don't have the cash for cosmetic surgery on me."

"No, no, nothing that extreme. We need new clothes, change our hair, fix up the damage on the car, get new plates, maybe spray a different color?"

"I see.. Doable." she gave up on trying to dry her hair and put her seat belt in place "So I assume this means you've decided we stick together?"

Waylon glanced behind to his wife, who nodded and spoke up, albeit with mild hesitation "We.. yes, I think it's the better decision. Especially after what just happened.. Don't get me wrong, I'm still terrified, but.. it seems you were right."

Alyssa flashed a smile "Good to know, thank you." She stretched her legs forward as far as she had room "Besides, I'd hate to kick you all in the rain, the weather's awful, I would know." The overly serious atmosphere was lifted as everyone shared a brief chuckle.

"Yeah, I'll just stay inside and take your word for that. Anyway, it'll be about two hours till we reach Denver, so buckle up." Waylon said, but his wife interjected partly jokingly

"What are you telling her to buckle up for, you're the one not wearing a seat belt, again! Put it on." The man grumbled something in a similar manner before complying.

Feeling cold, Alyssa reached for the car heater, turned it on, then leaned back in her seat and placed her arms around herself "Hope you don't mind, I'm still wet and freezing, the rain outside isn't one of those refreshing warm summer showers."

"I packed a few coats, but we'd have to stop and get them from the trunk." Lisa suggested, but the younger woman shook her head

"It's fine, I'd rather wait to get warm than anyone have to go out there."

She lightly rubbed her arms for warmth and leaned her head against the window. The gentle vibration combined with the water flowing down the glass accompanied by the sounds of the heavy drops falling on the rooftop was awfully soothing, drawing a soft exhale out of her.

Eventually, the scenery began to change slightly, the empty fields grew sparsely populated by the occasional tree, but it was still too dark to see much in the distance. When two lights started approaching from behind, Alyssa suddenly felt on edge again, she didn't remove her gaze from the headlights at their six, and she could see the others were somewhat unnerved as well.

"I'll slow down and let him pass.." Waylon said, but there was caution in his voice. He slowed the car considerably and moved over more to the side of the road, then everyone quietly exhaled in relief when the other vehicle simply passed by them at the same speed without hesitation.

 _Damn it, now we'll be freaked out by every car behind us until we reach the city.._ She thought, but relaxed in her seat again. She felt the need to talk to the Walrider, ask him about the decision to get mixed in with the crowds, if he thought it would indeed be safer for them, but she held her tongue, not wanting to scare anyone, either by them watching her seemingly speak to the air, or worse, by hearing his eerie disembodied voice in the car.

As she let her mind wander, an idea struck her. It seemed too silly at first, and she considered dismissing it, but seeing as she didn't have much to do anyway, she decided to go for it.

After making sure there was no mud still stuck to the bottom of her boots, she put her feet up on the edge of the seat and brought her knees to her chest. Much to her relief, when she took the phone out of her pocket, she realized that the zipper kept the device in working condition, a few drops of water slipped in, but they hadn't caused any issue.

 _These old bricks are capable of sustaining a surprising amount of damage anyway._

She opened up the text message editor, and began typing.

 _'Are you seeing this?'_ Biting her lip to hold back a small smile at the silly idea, she only kept the phone facing up, on the top of her knee.

Waiting for a reply, it did come, but from someone else.

"Are you gonna text someone? I don't think that's safe." Waylon spoke suddenly, and Alyssa shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to send anything." The man gave her a brief odd look, seeing that she did write something, and not understanding why she would do that if she was not planning to send a message, but returned his focus to the road.

 _Come ooon.._ She waited several long seconds more, but heard nothing, so she decided to type again.

 _'I know you're here, you know.'_

Just a moment later, she flinched when she heard the deep voice in her head.

 **_We are not doing this._ **

He sounded serious, but she couldn't sense any annoyance, she bit back a smirk and typed again.

 _'It worked! I just want to talk.'_

She felt ever so slightly bummed out when his voice rang in her head again.

 **_You talk too much._ **

Typing slower, she flinched again after a sudden loud thunder cracked in the clouds.

 _'Okay.. :('_

With a pout, she let her phone slide in her lap and rested her chin on her knees. A few silent seconds later, she received a response.

 **_This means of communication is.. annoyingly inefficient. We will speak later._ **

Her mood was slightly lifted upon hearing his words, she reached for the bottle of water from earlier and took a few gulps as she placed her feet back down and the phone in her pocket. Much to her chagrin, it wasn't long until she realized she needed to pee.

 _Great…_ The idea of going to the bathroom in another small town was particularly unpleasant after the incident in Buena Vista, but it was the better choice between that and going outside in the torrential rain. She wasn't entirely comfortable, but she spoke up

"When's the nearest town?"

"About fifteen minutes. Why?" Waylon asked without taking his eyes off the road.

Alyssa hesitated for a moment before giving up "I'm sorry, I lost a lot of blood, I need to drink a lot of water.." she said with a small shrug.

Lisa's words did make her more comfortable though "I haven't been to the bathroom before we left either. Let's stop at the nearest restaurant, for just a few minutes."

Her husband nodded, and Alyssa felt more at ease, at the very least she wouldn't be by herself in the bathroom this time.

A few silent minutes went by with her mind wandering freely, and the more time passed, the more she had to make an effort to keep her thoughts from returning to the asylum. Something urged her to find her camcorder, she reached for the glove compartment, reluctantly picked up the device inside and held it on her lap. Waylon gave her a quick glance, but remained quiet.

She slid open the side screen, turned the camcorder on and raised it to her eye. When she glanced out through the window, she flicked the nightvision on and didn't know why she jumped when the green artificial light allowed her to see for a moderate distance away.

It only took moments before the memories flashed through her mind: room stacked with decomposing, gutted and incomplete dead bodies, nauseating stench of death, cold dirty water up to her thighs, chains dragging over concrete, heavy raspy breathing enveloped in the darkness, the sight of a man's head being torn off his shoulders meters away, and then the feeling of her own neck muscles being painfully stretched.

A gasp escaped her and she dropped the camcorder on her lap, but quickly reached for it and turned the device off while she tried to stop her heavy breathing.

"You shouldn't do that." Waylon didn't seem too surprised at her reaction "I reckon we won't be able to look through a camera for a while without remembering."

Alyssa placed the camcorder back in the glove compartment, then leaned back in her seat and calmed herself, noticing the sympathetic look from Lisa.

"You both should try to get some sleep once we get to a hotel, I know you already slept at the inn but we should get our schedules in sync so we can all be awake and travel during the day, it's safer that way." The woman said and her husband agreed.

Alyssa nodded vaguely, but her mind was already starting to worry about nightmares again, she didn't believe herself lucky enough to have another night of mostly peaceful sleep like the last time.

Soon, the downpour began to gradually calm into a gentle rain, and the clouds grew lighter and thinner, but she wasn't paying attention. Questions haunted her, questions that she hadn't yet asked both due to the lack of time and because she was afraid of the potential answers, but she told herself she would settle the uncertainties once they reached the alleged safety of the city.

 _And then what? Even if we make it to their other house in Texas, what then? What if Murkoff know about it? What if they'll still be on our trail? What if their army of corporate lawyers navigate their way around a lawsuit despite our evidence? Christ…_

She hadn't realized her eyes began tearing up until she blinked; she hated it, but she was already beginning to fear for her life again.

 _They tried to kill us, just then, they really tried to shoot us down.. God, they're not going to stop, are they? Is our evidence seriously not enough? Everything we've been through in that damn hellhole…_ She wiped her forming tears before anyone noticed and shook her head along with the persistent concerned thoughts away, quickly realizing that it was not the time nor place to become so upset.

 _At least wait for some privacy before you freak out, for God's sake.._

"We'll reach town in a minute." Waylon's voice brought her back to the present moment, and she prepared to go out in the rain again, although this time it would be far less uncomfortable, since she would only have to walk through it for a few seconds and the drops were falling gently.

When they did reach the small town, Waylon parked as close as he could in front of a diner. "Alright ladies, make it quick, scream if you're in trouble." He said casually and shut down the engine.

"Not funny." His wife said.

Alyssa chuckled, partly out of amusement and partly out of mild nervousness "Don't have to tell me twice.."

After taking her purse, Lisa stepped out of the car and the younger woman followed close, making a mental note to buy a purse as well so she wouldn't have to stuff her things in a single pocket.

The inside of the diner was virtually empty, both due to the remote location and the late hour, but the women only walked over to the bathrooms.

Much to Alyssa's relief, the women's bathroom was completely empty, she walked in after the other and closed the door. She only took a few steps away from it before the deep gravelly voice of the Walrider spooked both women

"It would be unwise to leave a trail of corpses behind, and I'm not going to comply with any more of your wishes to not gut someone again, so I suggest you hurry this up. I will block the door."

As she quickly turned around, she flinched when she saw the Walrider's black form standing against the door with his arms crossed, but her surprise was nothing compared to the other woman's. Lisa's purse dropped from her hand, she nearly fell backwards as a sharp scream left her before she covered her mouth tightly and rushed to the opposite wall.

"It's okay, we're fine!" Alyssa picked up the purse and hurried to the distressed woman, she handed it to her and tried to guide her to a stall, but the other just shook her head and couldn't unglue her gaze from the bizarre entity. Until he swiftly dissipated into a cloud of black smoke and slid underneath the door, but she could see that it remained on the other side.

"It's alright, we're safe, he's just gonna make sure no one comes in, okay?" Alyssa tried to calm the woman, who seemed less panicked now that the swarm didn't have a physical presence inside the room anymore.

Hesitantly, and noticeably still shaken, the older woman walked into a stall, and so did Alyssa.

"W-what in God's name…" Lisa whispered.

Alyssa sighed softly and did her business "That's who saved our lives, Mrs. Park. Please relax, he's not going to hurt us.."

The other woman didn't answer, but she could tell she was still unnerved.

 _Can't really blame you, I used to damn nearly die of fright when he merely looked in my direction…_

A sudden knock on the bathroom door startled her, followed by an unfamiliar female voice, sounding mildly concerned

"Is everything alright in there?" The door knob was twisted, but the door did not budge. Alyssa bit her lip, figuring that it must had been easy for someone to hear Lisa scream due to the quiet and sparsely populated small diner.

Slightly fearing for the stranger's safety, she rushed and went to open the bathroom door. When she pulled on it, it did open, and in front of her stood the woman in a white apron that was behind the diner counter when they walked in, with a mildly concerned look on her face.

Alyssa spoke before the other could, with a small faux-embarrassed smile "Everything's fine, I just saw a spider on my arm and freaked out a bit, sorry if I scared anyone."

The woman's expression relaxed, she spoke as she returned to the diner counter "Hurry it up honey, it's closing time."

Alyssa nodded, swiftly closed the door and exhaled in relief, then walked up to one of the sinks and began washing her hands. When Lisa stepped out of the stall and did the same, she could see the older woman's hands slightly shaking under the water stream.

"Mrs. Park, please.." when the older woman glanced at her, she could still see the unease on her face, but she continued "I don't want to scare you more, but honestly, we wouldn't have made it out of that chase alive if it hadn't been for him. He has no reason to hurt us, relax."

Lisa couldn't suppress a shudder, she exhaled heavily as she dried her hands. "I believe you, it's not that, I-I just.." The younger woman only gave her a questioning but patient look to continue. After a thoughtful pause, she did so, reluctantly "I heard what you told Waylon. About that.. gateway. Do you know what comes through gateways? Demons. Demons come through gateways, Alyssa…" she reached her hand to her chest and gently grasped the crucifix while she gazed towards the door with apprehension.

Alyssa swallowed, feeling her heart's thumping rise slightly, but shook her head slowly "Please don't say that, things are hard enough for me already…"

The older woman placed her hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sorry, I don't want to scare you either, but it's what I learned in catholic school. I grew up in a religious household, I studied these things, and I'm telling you, they are very dangerous, Alyssa, they're nothing to play with, please, be careful." She gave her a genuinely concerned look that urged her to be safe, and a light squeeze on the shoulder to emphasize the importance of her words.

The woman only meant well, Alyssa knew that, she flashed a smile "Thank you.. I'll be careful."

Lisa nodded "Okay, let's get going, it shouldn't be much longer until we reach Denver." She began walking towards the door and Alyssa followed.

Despite her thanks, she had to admit she wasn't being entirely honest. The slightest feeling of resentment nagged at the back of her mind, it was barely noticeable, but it was there, even though she didn't really understand why it was there. She wasn't even aware of the faint frown that set on her face as she walked behind Lisa.

 _But… You don't know him._

When they stepped outside and a rain drop fell right on her nose, she began thinking more logically.

 _Okay, I don't know him that well either but.._ A slight shudder went down her spine as she recalled the woman's words; the possibility of being around an actual demon terrified her to the bone, but to her relief, she truly didn't feel that was the case.

After they both got back in the car, Waylon spoke up as he started the engine. "Everything alright, we ready to go?"

Alyssa didn't answer on purpose, waiting to hear what his wife would say, out of curiosity.

There was still a hint of worry in Lisa's voice, but she spoke calmly. "Everything's fine, let's get going."

Without a moment wasted, the man pulled back on the street and sped down the road towards the city.


	22. Chapter 22

**I decided to use some pictures to more accurately describe the hotel, but this site doesn't tolerate any sort of links, so if you'd like to see them, please check out this story with the same title, under my same username on archieveofourown.**

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Eventually, the scenery began changing again, as they approached the city. The sight of the hills on the sides of the highway, populated by tall pine trees made Alyssa somewhat uneasy, it was too reminiscent of the trip she had by herself through the Mount Massive wilderness towards the asylum. She glanced behind, a large hill blocked her view, but she knew that beyond it were both Leadville and Mount Massive. It unsettled her further that they still seemed to be so close to where everything started, but tried to calm herself with the fact that they were going to reach a safer place soon, and then put a lot more distance between themselves and the ground zero of the whole nightmare.

Still, she preferred to avoid looking around too much, she mostly kept her eyes on the road or in the car. As they approached the city, the highway grew so populated by other vehicles that they couldn't afford to become worried about each passing one anymore.

 _Well, get used to it, the whole point was to get lost in the crowd._

It had pros and cons, as far as she was concerned, if Murkoff somehow got a clue that they were in Denver, they could send agents to search for them, and because of the dense population, it would be considerably difficult to spot anyone suspicious. At the same time, this worked in their favor as well, the amount of people and cars in the city would make locating five people an extremely tedious task, and highly unlikely overall, in the relatively short period of time they were planning to stay.

Her uneasy mood was occasionally lifted by the amusing, innocent conversations of the children in the back, along with Peanut climbing on people, demanding to be petted. It reminded her of the times she and her brother were riding in the back of their parents' car, talking and joking to each other without a care in the world, and the gentle family dog they used to have before he died of old age.

When she realized she was about to get lost in memories and become both melancholic and concerned about her family again, she quickly brought herself back to the present moment and glanced over to Waylon.

"What's the population of Denver, again, Mr. Park? I'd look it up but.. yeah."

"Uhh.." the man paused thoughtfully, but his wife spoke up before he did.

"About six hundred and sixty thousand, honey."

Waylon nodded "Right. I knew that."

Alyssa flashed a smile "Sounds good. And.. Mr. Park, you're sure Murkoff aren't aware of your home in Texas?"

The fact that the man seemed so certain further put her nerves at ease "In the few months I worked for them, I never brought it up at work, they never had access to my private mail, never mentioned it in emails. As far as I know, we only talked about it on the phone with relatives, and even there we never told an exact address, right?" he glanced back to his wife, and the woman nodded, further reassuring Alyssa "Trust me, it's our safest bet."

"That's good to hear." She paused, not wanting to be the bearer of bad reminders, but felt the need to get it out "As long as they don't track us there.."

Her words did spark some tension, but Waylon tried to settle it "That's true, but don't worry, we'll make sure we're not gonna be followed."

Alyssa nodded slowly and tried to keep her mind from going to stressful places again, she was so tired of the stress, even though she had slept recently, she was already mentally exhausted due to everything she had to worry about, she desperately needed to relax.

Wanting to get some fresh air, she rolled the window halfway down and leaned her face outside. She took a deep breath and felt some tension vanish as she exhaled, both the rain and wind remained gentle, and the thunder cracks were far less frequent, mostly replaced by distant rumbling in the clouds which helped to calm her restless mind.

Still, her clothes had dried on her, and her hair wasn't completely dry yet, she felt cold again. After Waylon had to take a slight turn, the wind and rain direction on them changed, she rolled the window back up after the water began falling on her face.

Leaning back in her seat, she glanced over to the driver's side and the sight of the half-destroyed mirror made her bite her lip. The closer they came to the city, the more cars were around, and she knew it was only a matter of time until a police cruiser drove by and saw the damage.

"How long will it take to get the car fixed, Mr. Park? I never had to do this before."

"Hard to tell, the damage is minor, but in a big city it can take a while. Give it a day, two at most, but don't take my word for it, depends how busy the body shop will be." The man said, and threw a quick glance around for any nearby police vehicles, but fortunately he could see none "And you just refuse to call us by our first names, huh?"

Alyssa chuckled "Sorry, force of habit. Two days, huh. I hope I have the cash on me, I would've taken it all from home when I left if only I knew I wasn't gonna come back.." the smile she had quickly vanished as she finished her sentence.

"We took our life savings, have some on credit and debit cards too, but it's not safe for us to access those, it immediately goes on bank record under our names."

"Good point, I have most of my money on my cards, actually. Since it's unlikely that Murkoff know who I am yet, I'd say it's safer to max out mine." Alyssa said thoughtfully, placing a hand over her wallet in her pocket.

The man nodded once "Agreed. Still, you're not paying the whole car bill, we're splitting it half."

"No contest?" she asked with a small smile, Waylon shook his head but Lisa spoke before he did

"No contest."

Alyssa shrugged "I guess it's two against one, the majority wins."

Soon, they passed underneath a green sign indicating that they were approaching the city of Denver, and the broad highway turned slightly narrower, but so far there were only small buildings and houses on each side of the road.

"We should start looking for a hotel soon." Lisa said casually, looking through her purse, but her husband differed.

"Not so fast, we're not staying in this suburbia, we're going downtown. Much more people there, safer for us."

His wife paused only for a moment "Hotels downtown? Can we afford that?"

Waylon frowned slightly and sighed "Let's live a little, we need to relax, I don't want to get stuck in some crappy little inn again. Besides, we'll only be a day or two, it's fine." He raised his hand off the steering wheel briefly to wave it dismissively.

His words seemed to spark his youngest son's interest "Can we go to one of the big tall ones, daddy? Pleeease?" Sam spoke excitedly and leaned to the driver's seat as far as he could reach from behind his seat belt.

The boy's eagerness and enthusiasm put a smile on everyone, including his father "Darn right we will, as far high to the top as we can!"

"Yes!" Sam nearly shouted, then quickly turned to his brother and high-fived him.

Their mother shook her head lightheartedly, but she too smiled at the scene "Fine, fine, we're going downtown, but we're not staying long."

Several minutes later, the taller buildings came into view as they approached the city center, and Sam struggled to crank his neck up and see through the window all the way up to the top of the buildings, squishing his face against the glass; his older brother pushed him off of him with mild annoyance.

After a while of searching and trying to make a choice, and not without the influence of the kids, they decided to go for one of the more expensive large hotels in the city center. Once they found and parked in a good spot in the underground lot, they took their suitcases and began making their way to the hotel lobby.

"Like Lisa said, let's try to get some sleep." Waylon said and glanced at Alyssa "Tomorrow morning we need to go out and get the car fixed, then you two should go shopping for new clothes for everyone."

"And hair dye." Lisa interjected.

Her husband paused "Uh, sure."

"You want to dye your hair, Mrs. Park? Not a bad idea, actually, the more you can change your appearance, the better, in case Murkoff's thugs got a good view of us back in Buena Vista."

The older woman nodded "That's available for you too."

Alyssa blinked in surprise "Me? I.. guess so. I never had my hair dyed, though."

"We'll do it ourselves, don't worry, it's easy, I'll show you."

Alyssa nodded, still a bit unsure, but didn't argue.

When they walked in the hotel lobby, they were at first taken aback by the brightly lit, pristine and luxurious design, but weren't surprised to see it was fairly busy. They waited their turn behind three other people at the check in, and, as before, they booked two rooms. Much to Sam's excitement, they chose two that were in the highest third of the building, but the closest rooms to each other available were several doors away from each other.

The elevator ride upwards was somewhat awkward and mostly quiet, as even though the cabin was fairly spacious, they all had to squeeze in with a couple of strangers.

By the time they finally reached their floor, they were by themselves, and began walking down the moderately wide hallway towards their rooms.

"Alyssa, I'll stop by our room to leave my suitcase then I'll go help the kids unpack and get ready for bed." Lisa said, and the younger woman nodded.

"Take your time Mrs. Park, you have one of the keys, no need to knock when you come back, in case I can get some sleep by then."

Lisa glanced down at the card attached to the key and stopped with Alyssa at the door ahead "Okay this is our stop, I'll see you guys in a minute."

Waylon nodded, then continued with the children down the hallway towards the other room.

When the women walked inside their own room, they both paused and looked around in surprise and delight at the spacious pristine room equipped with luxurious furniture and a stunning view of the city and wilderness beyond.

"Well I'll be.." Alyssa said with a smile that the other woman shared.

"Okay, I admit, this was a good choice."

Alyssa chuckled and stepped towards the wall-sized window to admire the view of the city at night, while Lisa placed her suitcase next to the bed.

Just as they began to relax and relish in the new pleasant environment, a deep voice suddenly startled the both of them

"Not yet."

Lisa jumped and swiftly turned around, when she saw the same dark entity from the bathroom earlier, this time floating a few inches off the floor, it took everything in her to keep herself from screaming again.

Before Alyssa could say anything, the Walrider simply pointed to the older woman, then towards the door

"You. Get out."

"Wait, what?" Alyssa asked with a confused frown, but when she glanced at Lisa, the woman had already picked up her suitcase again and rushed towards the door, then stopped, too afraid to approach it due to the swarm being too close to it.

"No, come on, Lisa wait."

The other woman flinched when the Walrider slowly floated past Alyssa and away from the door, she dashed to it the moment she felt it was safe enough "I'm sorry, I can't!"

"Lisa please! I'll talk to him, you don't have to-"

"No, I can't do this! I'll see you later."

Before she could offer a reply, Lisa already slammed the door closed behind her.

Alyssa opened it and gazed outside only to see the other woman rushing towards the room where her family was "Sorry, I'll come over in the morning!" she shouted after her, then closed the door, locked it and sighed softly.

When she looked behind, she saw the dark shape of the Walrider, now with his skeletal feet planted on the floor.

"That.. was very rude." She said with some tension, but couldn't really suppress a small smirk. She walked past him, towards the window, and took in the beautiful view of the multitude of lights shining below and inside other buildings "But I don't suppose you care for such a thing.. What did you mean anyway, not yet what?"

"You wanted to talk. Again. Now we can, privately."

"Oh.. yes." Alyssa glanced back at him "Are we really safer here, in the city? In places with a lot of people? What do you think?"

The Walrider took a couple large steps towards her, but kept his distance, and placed his hands behind his back "This is good. Murkoff will not expect us going back north, and the dense population is effective cover. Human shields for you are plentiful as well."

He wasn't surprised at all when she frowned and looked away through the window again "Oh come on, human shields, that is just wr-"

"Spare me, human." He waved a hand at her dismissively "You know it's true. Do you believe Murkoff will not endanger others to harm any of you if need be? Even you can't be that naïve."

Alyssa bit her lip in slight frustration "No, but.." a soft exhale left her "God dammit.. Yeah, I know. But I don't have to like it."

It was true, she knew that much, but it still stung. At first, she had to live with the fact that she was putting the Parks in danger by having the Walrider near them, and now, if Murkoff identified her, her presence would put the safety of a lot of strangers at risk.

 _Relax, they haven't ID'd you yet.._ She pushed the stressful thoughts away, and decided to check out the bathroom. Walking away from the window and into the relatively small room, her mood was lifted again upon seeing the luxurious bathroom equipped with both a shower cabin and a large bath tub.

A slight smile grew on her face, but when she glanced down, she spotted the faint but present traces of mud stains on her clothes from the time when she fell down the slope in the rain. Deciding that she needed to wash them by hand, she glanced behind before she did anything, only to see the Walrider turning his head back towards the window, as if he had been watching her.

"Um, could you pull the blinds down, please? I'd like to check out my wounds, don't want to risk anyone outside seeing." She grasped the bottom of her blouse, but hadn't raised it over her head yet.

"Not necessary." He stated simply, and continued when she gave him a questioning look "The glass is a one-way mirror."

"Oh.. right." Even with the information that no one from the outside would be able to see her, she was still hesitant to undress, she raised her blouse just below her breasts. Unsurprisingly, the bullet wounds were fully closed, and her abdominal muscles only hurt very little when she flexed them hard. However, scars were left behind, small, but visible, in a slightly lighter tone than even her pale skin.

Returning to the bedroom, she emptied her skirt pocket on the bed stand under the lamp, then walked back to the doorway of the bathroom. She searched around for a door, or just any sort of separation between the two rooms, but failed to find anything.

"What are you trying to do now?" The Walrider asked in a mildly irritated tone.

"There has to be some sort of door here!" Alyssa spoke loudly with some frustration.

"Just undress!" he answered in a similar manner.

She frowned and held back a scoff "I can't do that with you right there!"

At that, he sounded exasperated "Your form is nothing new to me!"

Taking a seat on the bench at the end of the bed, she began quickly taking her boots off to prepare for a shower "Yeah, but-" Some blood rose to her cheeks at the memory in the Park house, how embarrassed she felt, but also how terrified "Y-you made me!"

He gave her a brief glance over his shoulder, but said nothing.

Alyssa exhaled her frustration out, and only then did the intimidating realization that she had almost started bickering with him hit her. She swallowed and the fear quickly settled down what little temper she previously had. Placing her boots next to the bed, she quietly cleared her throat and walked back to the bathroom sink. Still very much hesitant, she convinced herself to slowly remove her blouse, which she placed in the sink, then turned on the hot water and began washing the mud out with liquid soap.

Not at all comfortable with the silence and unsure whether she really felt eyes on her back or if it was only her paranoia, she decided to speak up.

"That.. rain was cold, and my clothes dried on me. Am I going to catch a cold? Like, could you.. I don't know, be able to tell?" she asked awkwardly but didn't look behind.

"The common cold is a viral infection." The Walrider spoke, now in a calm tone.

Alyssa blinked and paused in confusion "Um.. Yes, that's true. What am I supposed to get from that?"

She threw a discreet glance behind only to see his shoulders slump slightly, as if he exhaled "What you are supposed to _get_ from that, is the reminder that nanobots can detect and eliminate viruses in your system."

"Ooh, right, right. I knew that." Alyssa said with a brief, slightly embarrassed smile, but relieved that she wouldn't have to worry about getting sick.

It took her a while to wash her clothes, and eventually she was standing over the sink in the nude, listening to the calming sound of the light rain landing against the window. For the past few minutes, she could have sworn she began sensing something change, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was intangible, a very vague feeling, yet she knew it didn't come from her. She continued washing her clothes in silence, but most of her focus was aimed at trying to decipher what it was that she was sensing.

By the time she finished, she still couldn't quite figure it out, so she placed her clothes to dry and decided to take a shower and prepare for bed. As soon as she slid open the shower cabin's glass door, a sudden moment of realization hit her.

 _Grief?_ She frowned in confusion and paused, not understanding why she was feeling something almost like melancholy. When she looked outside the bathroom, she noticed the Walrider was still facing away, standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, slightly slouching.

Alyssa blinked, and her expression softened, but now she felt mildly uncomfortable for reasons she didn't want to think about. Reluctantly, she unglued her gaze from him and hopped in the shower.

She kept the shower quick, then put on one of the white bathrobes, which was long sleeved, but downwards it only reached to the mid of her thighs.

After drying her hair with the hair dryer, a faint smile of content grew on her face at the feeling of cleanliness, she was looking forward to crashing into the large soft bed, but when she stepped out of the bathroom, her smile quickly faded.

The Walrider still hadn't moved, and that same odd sense of hopelessness she felt before had only increased. She slowly stepped next to him and looked out and down through the window where he seemed to be looking. There was nothing but the usual sight of cars and people passing through the busy city streets.

Even though by then she was well aware that he wasn't a threat to her, she still couldn't help feeling mildly fearful, but at the same time, she was almost sure something was wrong with him and felt the need to know what it was.

Hesitantly, she opened her mouth and spoke softly

"Are you okay?..."

She waited a second, then several; she looked up at him, but he didn't even look at her.

"I.. feel something strange. Is something wrong? Please tell me." Alyssa almost whispered, and slightly flinched when he suddenly shook his head

"I know when you are lying to me, human. But you don't. It would be unjust for me to lie to you, so be quiet. Go sleep."

She swallowed and glanced back to the large inviting bed, it was tempting, but she couldn't bring herself to just give up

"Then don't lie to me.."

Slowly, he turned his gaze down towards her, and she felt her heart thumping harder in her chest, but against her better judgement, she looked back at him, with a pleading look in her eyes.

It felt like minutes passed until he moved, his shoulders briefly rose then slumped in a deep sigh motion. Alyssa remained in place as he turned around and leaned his back against the window, then blinked when he slid down the glass and sat on the floor, resting his elbows on his knees. When he landed, a number of nanites also fell off his body, and into a small semi-transparent cloud on the floor around him. She didn't know why his voice startled her, even though it was almost a whisper.

"I'm not going to find Wernicke."

A faint puzzled frown grew on her face upon hearing his words, she gazed down at him, trying to make sense of his statement "What.. do you mean? Why not, didn't you want to find him?"

Reluctantly, he answered "That was the plan, but by now, he could be anywhere in this world. He has months to live, at best…"

The realization suddenly hit Alyssa like a ton of bricks, she held back a quiet gasp. She had been so concerned with her problems and safety that she completely forgot about his own mission, the objective to find the only person that was there at the beginning of Project Walrider and get some much needed answers about the gateway. Now she understood the sense of hopelessness she was feeling, and the fact that she was partly to blame only stung harder.

As she looked down at him, she also quickly understood why she was uncomfortable. The feeling she sensed coupled with the way he was sitting on the floor, slouching and sounding almost melancholic; she didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't lie to herself, she had to admit, he seemed outright miserable. It frightened and upset her, because he was the stronger one, he was the one that was protecting them, if he was in such a state, she wondered how she was supposed to feel.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, and slowly kneeled next to him.

"You are sorry far too much, this doesn't concern you." He spoke matter-of-factly.

Alyssa shook her head gently and scooted over next to him, resting her back against the window and hugging her knees to her chest, the cloud of nanites on the floor reaching just up to her ankles. Leaning her head back on the glass, she took in the relaxing sound of the delicate drops of rain landing against it and spoke barely above a whisper

"But it does. If it hadn't been for me getting shot, maybe you could've caught Wernicke after dispatching those Murkoff thugs. If it hadn't been for you having to save me from bleeding out, he wouldn't have gotten away…"

Allowing her eyelids to gently drop, she sighed quietly, the large bed ahead seemed far less alluring now.

Suddenly, she took a small sharp inhale as she felt his hand in her hair. Expecting to be roughly yanked or pushed away in annoyance at her words, she was surprised when he rather slowly pulled her head towards him until it was only a few inches from his. Her heart skipped a beat and she made an effort to keep breathing normally as she stared into the inky blackness of his face, and suppressed a flinch upon hearing his voice, he did sound annoyed, but only slightly

"If it hadn't been for _you_ , I would still be haunting the asylum to this moment. So quit this foolish guilt trip on yourself, it is starting to bore me."

Without giving it much thought, she said the first thing that came to her mind, in a rather reflexive way to relieve stress and tension

"Heh.." she cracked a brief nervous smile "You said 'haunt'.." When he said nothing but also hadn't released her, she continued "Y-you know, like a ghos-.."

She quieted herself when he pushed her back and removed his hand from her hair. Fixing it back in place, she recalled that she hadn't yet brushed it, and due to the lack of a brush, she began combing it with her fingers.

Silence fell upon them for a minute, but Alyssa was still unsettled by his mood, she wanted to do something about it, but had no clue what.

 _Jesus, I'm bad at this even with normal people, let alone.._ Her thoughts instantly reminded her of what Lisa had told her in the bathroom, and for a moment she grew frightened, but decided to get the issue out of the way as soon as possible.

Without allowing herself time to hesitate, she blurted out while keeping her gaze ahead

"Are you a demon?"

It sounded both absurd and scary at the same time, and she braced herself for an answer. She could almost feel his head turning and staring a hole through her as he spoke

"She told you that."

Sensing her panic rising at his mention of Lisa in a much less than kind tone, she shook her head quickly "It doesn't matter, please, just tell me."

The wait for his reply felt painfully long, she could feel her heart thumping harder against her chest, and when he finally spoke, his words did not calm her

"That makes no difference here. Whether I am or not, there is nothing you can do about it."

 _Christ…_ She bit her lip tightly and closed her eyes, already filling up with dread.

Unbeknownst to her, he noticed that, and spoke again

"I am not a demon… Do not equate me with them, they are vile creatures."

Alyssa swallowed and nodded, then mumbled a "Sorry", recalling the fact that he seemed unwilling to lie to her, and being somewhat surprised at his words, wondering how bad would demons have to be for someone like him, who tears people to pieces, to have such a poor opinion of them. As soon as that thought passed through her mind, she couldn't help feeling some regret.

 _If he's so bad then why are you sitting on the floor next to him wanting to uplift this miserable mood in this miserable situation we're in when you could be under the blankets of that big soft bed?.._

Only after she blinked did she become aware of the frown on her face as she scolded herself and relaxed it away. Another question crossed her mind, yet she found herself hesitant to ask it, she couldn't tell why, but it made her somewhat uncomfortable.

She lowered her hand into the cloud on the floor and swirled her finger through it, creating a tiny twister inside it that she then waved away with her palm. The dark mist was virtually intangible at the low density, it was almost like touching an actual cloud; she cupped her hands together and scooped some of it up, then watched as the nanites escaped between her fingers like smoke.

As peculiar and somewhat calming as handling the swarm was, she pushed herself to speak her mind "Do you.. want to go home?.." she bit her lip lightly and kept her gaze down, uncomfortably apprehensive about his answer, which came a few long seconds later

"What I want is to know what happened. I do not like mysteries."

Alyssa nodded slowly "What do you remember? You said your memory from around the time you got here is foggy? What's the closest thing you can recall, where were you before?" she asked with a rather focused and interested slight frown.

The Walrider rose his gaze from the floor as if in an attempt to recall distant memories; he remained silent for a while, but Alyssa patiently waited, hoping that he would remember and share. When he spoke slowly, his voice was even darker and raspier than usual

"I was… lurking through the shadows beneath. In a world below this one. Then I saw a light. That, by itself, was abnormal enough there, but this particular light was… It is difficult to accurately define, I suppose the closest term would be.. Unnatural. Artificial. Its nature both enticed and perturbed me, so I approached it. By the time I realized something was wrong, I was already a fading point of consciousness inside a German laboratory. I had no form of my own, and my awareness was dying, I felt like I was dying, but that was illogical, as I had no flesh body to die. It… unnerved me, instincts urged me to survive, so I did the first thing that my fading judgement deemed helpful; I possessed a body. It was the closest scientist I could find, and, unsurprisingly, it was not a suitable host. It took tens of humans until I found one that did not quickly grow insane or sick, like the patients at Mount Massive…"

By the time he finished, Alyssa was staring at him wide eyed, her jaw slightly dropped. She blinked and recollected herself before answering

"Oh.. wow. I.. don't really know what to say. It's fascinating, but if you don't know what to make of it, I'm afraid I don't have a clue.." she swallowed "But.. what happens if your host dies? Did that ever happen?"

"My consciousness begins to fade if I don't find another host in time."

Alyssa nodded with a concerned but focused frown, and asked somewhat reluctantly "And.. what do you think would happen if you didn't find a host in time?"

He shrugged lightly "Perhaps my soul would be swallowed by an endless abyss. I do not know, and I am in no rush to find out. The entire incident is an aberration, it should have never occurred in the first place."

A pang of guilt struck her, she wanted to agree with him, and in a sense she definitely did, but at the same time, she couldn't yet say she preferred that they had never met. As frightening and mysterious as the whole situation, and especially himself, were to her, she found it all too fascinating to have any real regrets and wish it never happened. And then a disturbing thought quickly came to her mind, reminding her that things could get much worse in the future, but she pushed it away and spoke softly

"Humans tend to be like this, unfortunately.. Whatever twisted machine they built to open that gateway, that light, it was wrong. We mess with things we don't understand, and the consequences are almost always bad…" a soft sigh left her, and she straightened her legs down "But what's done is done, we can't change the past. Now, any way I can help you find Wernicke, just let me know, okay? We'll find the bastard and make him squeal everything he knows about Project Walrider." It took some effort to raise a slight smile on her face, but it wasn't insincere.

He cocked his head at her curiously, he seemed somewhat surprised, but his tone was back to normal

"Good human."

Her smile was quickly replaced with a pout, and she raised her mildly irritated voice a few hairs "My name is Alyssa, and-.." her enthusiasm was interrupted by the sudden need to yawn, she placed her hand over her mouth as she couldn't fully suppress it "And.. it must be really late by now.."

Slowly but surely, she stood up and made her way to the bed stand. When she checked her phone, she noticed it was past one in the morning

"Ugh, it's well over midnight. My sleep schedule is so messed up.." she mumbled more to herself "I'll turn the light off and try to get some sleep until morning if you don't mind." She glanced at the Walrider on the floor, but he didn't respond.

She walked over to the light switch, but the moment she flipped it, her fear of nightmares instantly came back to mind. It was tempting to switch the light back on, but she pushed herself to just walk to the bed. The room was dark, but not pitch black, some light from the outside and other buildings shone through, and she told herself it would be even brighter after her eyes got used to the darkness. The wall-sized window, however, looked oddly soothing, with the black silhouette of the Walrider visible against it, contrasted by the low amount of light coming from the outside, while drops of water slowly slid down from the gentle rain.

The sight drew a quiet exhale out of her, she felt some of her apprehension ease, then allowed herself to lazily drop on the bed. She landed with several bounces, it was even more comfortable and soft than she anticipated, feeling like she was floating on a cloud. The sensation quickly reminded her of something else, something similar but far more velvety, the feeling of the Walrider's hand on her shoulder, which had been difficult to sense earlier in the harsh rain. She bit her lip lightly and dismissed the thought, insisting that it was not appropriate right now, if it ever was appropriate, and that she should get some sleep instead.

Rolling over in the bed, she slipped under the blanket and pulled one of the large puffy red pillows under her head, trying to keep her mind from drifting back into dark places. The realization suddenly hit her that she could no longer sense the hopeless feeling from before, and that definitely helped to set her mind at ease.

Despite that, falling asleep was still not an easy task, she turned and twisted for over half an hour; it didn't surprise her too much, seeing as she had slept fairly recently, but at the same time she was both mentally exhausted and she needed to wake up rested in the morning.

Eventually, sleep finally did take her, but it was light, and frequently interrupted for no apparent reason. As frustrating as that was, she was grateful that she at least couldn't remember any unpleasant dreams.

Much to her dread, her luck had only lasted until she grew more tired, and her sleep grew deeper. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought her own mind was trying to torture her. Everything she was suppressing while awake surfaced in her sleep, all her worst fears, all the things that could have went horribly wrong in the past and what could go wrong in the future. Small fragments of events flashed through her mind, she saw herself being beheaded and watching her headless corpse before her vision faded; she saw herself being gutted alive by Trager's shears; she saw herself being brutally raped; and worst of all, she saw her family paying the price of her actions. More images raced before her mind's eye, of her family being kidnapped, gagged and blindfolded while they were being violently tortured, with the only way to stop it being turning herself in to Murkoff.

If she would've been conscious, she would've been begging for that annoying interrupted sleep pattern to return, but luck wasn't on her side. While the traumatizing images invaded her mind, she grew increasingly aware of the fact that it was only a dream, a part of her screamed on the inside to wake up, that none of it was real, and after what felt like far too long, she did wake up.

With a short scream and tears already running down her face, she abruptly sat up on the bed and couldn't keep herself from crying; she hugged her knees to her chest and muffled her sobs on the blanket.

 _God dammit!_ Her fingers clenched on the bed sheets in frustration as she pushed herself to stop crying.

To say she hated this was a gross understatement, a part of her couldn't help fearing that she was going to be plagued by nightmares for the rest of her life. She quickly rejected the possibility, well aware of how stressful and dangerous her life was during the day lately, the least she wanted to have was some peace and quiet during the night, and it disturbed her that it seemed unlikely.

"Again?" the Walrider's voice interrupted her sobs, she rose her face from her knees and wiped her tears

"Yes…" she forced herself to stop crying, then glanced back towards the pillow, but felt very reluctant to lay back down, too afraid that the nightmares would simply resume if she managed to fall asleep again.

Resting her chin on her knees, she sighed heavily and kept her eyes half closed, she was still tired, but couldn't bring herself to lay back down. Her mind drifted towards finding something she could do until morning, she glanced over at the TV, but seeing as her eyelids were already drooping, she doubted she could stay awake watching TV, it was easy to imagine herself falling back asleep and back into the unbearable dreams.

As her gaze dropped to the floor next to the window where the Walrider was sitting, an idea crossed her mind, which was more partly an idea and partly an emotional necessity. It made her somewhat uncomfortable, she blamed the latter on the unsettled state of mind she was in, and she felt tempted to dismiss it all, but didn't know what else she could do.

Very hesitantly, she planted her feet on the soft carpet and fixed her bathrobe back in place, then picked up the pillow and slowly walked over to the window.

The Walrider watched her in silence as she crouched next to him, only to place her pillow down, between the window and the floor, then curl up into a ball, resting her head on it, facing away from him

"What are you doing?" he asked with a hint of confusion.

Alyssa whispered, barely audibly "Sorry.."

"That is not an answer." His tone was almost expectant.

She swallowed, more than a little uncomfortable, and opened her mouth to speak, it took some effort to get her words out "I… just.." she took in a deep breath and exhaled, then finally finished "I feel safer when you're close…"

Immediately, she bit her lip in tension as she braced herself and hoped he wasn't going to have a negative reaction. Her words were true, but actually saying them to him made her mildly uneasy; even though he still frightened her, his presence did instill a sense of safety in her, the times he saved her life and protected her were plentiful reasons for her.

All of her tension melted at once when he spoke "Sleep." sounding unusually calm, and almost sleepy himself.

She nodded once, and was glad that she was facing away from him, since he couldn't see her slight content smile. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling softly, she felt herself relax physically too, she didn't even feel uncomfortable on the carpeted but solid floor. The sound of the water drops landing against the window were considerably fainter, and she figured that the rain would stop by morning. This time, she fell into a dreamless, peaceful sleep in only a minute.

* * *

"Do we really have to go down there? Looks bad enough from here already.." Paul said as he and his partner stood at the top of the slope next to the road, not too far from Buena Vista, looking down at the crashed Murkoff SUV.

"Shut up and get moving." Pauline closed her umbrella, since the rain was about to fully stop falling, she took out the small bright flashlight from the inside pocket of her coat, as the sunlight of the dawn was still rather weak.

They took a longer route down where the slope wasn't so abrupt and slippery, then approached the police tape around the crashed vehicle and dead agents. Police officers and a coroner were investigating the scene, it wasn't hard to notice they were baffled by the accident, especially the state of the bodies.

"Coroner Ralph Carter. You must be Ms. Glick, Mr. Marion?" the man turned to the duo and introduced himself.

Pauline nodded and shone her flashlight over the bodies "Quite a mess we've got here."

"Indeed. You guys put bombs in your men's cars or something? No offense ma'am but it looks like a grenade blew up in this vehicle. Do you have any idea what could've caused injuries of this type on your agents?"

The woman crossed her arms and looked over at the crashed SUV "Not a clue, but we'll look into it. We'll do our job, and I suggest you do yours as well and keep investigating."

The man nodded, but there was a sliver of irritation in his eyes "The CSPD will keep in contact with the Murkoff corporation ma'am." Then walked away.

Paul found it somewhat difficult to unglue his gaze from the gruesome state of the body with the large open wounds, a disgusted and disturbed frown grew on his face, the flesh on the agent's lower part of the head was so damaged he couldn't even tell whether he recognized him or not

"Not a clue, huh?.."

His partner walked closer, and whispered, sounding almost suspicious "I know what you're thinking... But it can't be. Park has been through the therapy for barely a few days, valid subjects are extremely rare, and he wasn't one of them, the Project can't possibly be with him."

Paul dared a more demanding tone "Then how do you explain this? Even I've seen this type of damage during containment breaches. This is really bad.."

The woman couldn't keep herself from raising her voice a few hairs "No shit it's bad, but you know it's not how it works, it can't just walk out on its own!"

Her partner shook his head and looked away from the crash site "What about that jacket? Don't you think there were more people that left the asylum other than Park? It's our biggest clue."

As much as Pauline disliked his tone, she couldn't deny that he was right, she composed herself and cleared her throat "I did mean to tell you. Research found a strand of hair inside it a few hours ago."

"Lisa Park?" the blonde man asked in a more contemplative manner, but his partner dismissed it

"That's a negative, the DNA doesn't match hers, and it doesn't match any of our employees either, so.. we do have an outsider meddling in our affairs." The woman sounded almost pleased at the new discovery and posed challenge "Interestingly, there is no match in any databases we have access to either, so finding her won't be easy.."

"But it's obvious the intruder is with the Parks, right?"

Pauline nodded, but her gaze dropped to the ground, seemingly in deep thought.

"What is it?" Paul asked, and she directed her eyes at him instead

"It still makes no damn sense.. I told you, valid subjects are extremely rare, Park wasn't one of them, and regardless of whoever the intruder was, the chances would've been astronomical. You can't just waltz into the asylum and take the swarm from Hope.." She dropped her voice well into a low whisper and leaned towards the man "Do you have any idea how many employees he's killed at every chance? And this was a full containment breach lasting two days!"

"Shit happens, Pauline.. Just because something's unlikely it doesn't mean it couldn't have happened." The man shrugged, but remained rather concerned. He swallowed and spoke again "We need to find Park. It'll take us to the.. host."

The woman frowned upon hearing his words "It's not that simple…"

"And why's that? He can't run forever."

Pauline simply pointed at the mangled corpses of the Murkoff agents

"We need to begin taking the appropriate measures."


	23. Chapter 23

The second Alyssa woke up, she already felt the effects of laying on the floor for hours. A groan left her as she slowly sat up, her limbs and back feeling stiff and slightly sore.

"Ugh, okay, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.." she mumbled to herself, but when she looked to her left and saw the Walrider standing up, she recalled the fact that despite the unpleasant physical sensation, she had been at peace mentally, no more nightmares had come. "On second thought, the lack of messed up dreams was worth it.."

"Get up, you have things to do." He stated plainly, and Alyssa suppressed a pout, she was aware of it, but she wasn't entirely pleased at getting orders less than a minute after she woke up. Still, she nodded and yawned, then began standing up on slightly aching legs.

As she rose to her full height, she must've put too much weight on a more tender muscle and slipped, but before her knee could hit the floor, she felt a skeletal hand grip around her forearm and pull her up to her feet somewhat roughly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she reflexively freaked out just a bit, until he let her go and she headed to the bathroom.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth and hair, she noticed her clothes weren't fully dry yet, so she used the hair dryer to finish the job. When she felt some hunger, however, she took a break to pick up the phone and order breakfast, then returned to preparing her clothes.

"What time is it?" she raised her voice from the bathroom to make sure he heard her, then unnecessarily dodged and suppressed a yelp when her phone came flying and landed into the empty sink.

 _Jesus! Whatever happened to civil communication.._ Checking the device, she saw that it was past eight in the morning, and when she glanced through the wall-sized window outside, it seemed that the rain had completely stopped.

Soon enough, she dropped the bath robe and put on her now dry clothes, along with her boots, after cleaning all the mud residue off of them. Just in time, she heard a knock on the door, but as she walked to it, her heart picked up the pace several beats when the Walrider quickly flew to the door. Her logical mind told her that he was just making sure there was no threat outside, but knowing him, she couldn't help feeling mildly uneasy.

"Wait, it must be just my breakfast." she whispered tensely and approached the door too as he leaned down to look through the peephole; she then flinched as he suddenly turned around and flew out of direct sight of the doorway, but remained behind the corner just a few feet away

"Open it." He whispered back.

Alyssa complied, and beyond the door stood a young woman dressed in a white and black hotel uniform, her hands resting on the handles of a small glass table with wheels, upon which the breakfast food laid. The woman offered a smile, which Alyssa returned

"Oh right, thank you." She wheeled the table inside while the other left, and as she closed and locked the door, she couldn't neglect the somewhat surreal situation.

 _Sheesh lady, if you had any idea what's standing behind the corner just a few feet away…_

While she moved the table in front of the bench at the foot of the bed, a small, somewhat nervous, but still amused chuckle left her at her own thought. She turned the TV on and began flicking through the channels as she ate, in an attempt to find any news. After what felt like searching through hundreds, she only found one news channel, which she watched for several minutes, but failed to see anything related to the Mount Massive asylum or Murkoff.

A soft sigh left her, and she temporarily gave up on her search, both because of the seemingly endless number of channels and because she was afraid she might miss it if something did show up on the channel she found. She ate quietly while the TV played mostly in the background as her thoughts started to wander.

Just a minute later, she flinched when she heard her phone ringing; it worried her, because she knew that phone was strictly for emergencies, so she rushed to answer, and hearing Waylon's frantic voice only made her more concerned

"Turn to channel 64, now!"

"On it!" Alyssa quickly grabbed the remote and changed to the indicated channel as fast as she could, even though she was almost positive she passed by that one before and saw nothing important. Much to her chagrin, she was proven right, but before she could let Waylon know, he had already hung up.

 _Dammit!_

Dialing back, she nervously waited for the man to pick up, and spoke the moment she heard the click

"What do you mean, there's ballet dancing on channel 64!"

"Shit, get over here, fast! Lisa, unlock the door" Waylon said still in an urgent tone, and Alyssa hung up. Without a moment wasted, she dashed for the door, but paused before it, and threw a glance at the Walrider who was standing leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he did not seem nearly as interested as she was.

"I have a bad feeling about this, let's go, keep out of sight." She spoke quickly almost in a whisper and closed the door behind her. Ignoring her heavily thumping heart, she dashed through the hallway several doors down, knocked fast on the one she knew the Parks were, then recalled the man telling his wife to unlock the door, so she just opened it.

When she stepped inside the room which was virtually identical to hers, she made sure to firmly close the door behind her, but her attention was quickly drawn by the fact that everyone else's attention was completely focused on the TV. Lisa glanced towards her and signaled her to come closer while Waylon raised the volume.

As she approached and looked at the screen, she swallowed and didn't say a word upon realizing that it was a very recent news report, the large headline at the bottom made her breath momentarily freeze in her lungs:

 _"MOUNT MASSIVE ASYLUM RAIDED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT"_

There wasn't a peep in the entire room, the only sounds were the voices of the news reporters. The anchorwoman was behind a desk at the station, but when Alyssa recognized the open gate of the asylum behind the on-site reporter, a cold chill ran down her spine. She did her best to ignore it, and carefully listened like her life depended on it, which, in a way, it did.

"-umber of survivors are in the dozens, but shockingly, the dead seem to far exceed the living. The state of the survivors is almost as shocking, with many of the patients suffering from severe lesions. We cannot show you images of the laboratory under the asylum, because officers describe it as 'a slaughterhouse', veteran paramedics who arrived at the scene reported they felt disturbed and ill upon seeing the state of some of the bodies, but successfully continue rescuing survivors."

"Oh my god…" Alyssa whispered "It's really happening."

Waylon nodded, not removing his gaze from the screen, still wary "It's damn good progress, but let's hope it's just the beginning."

"Their lawyers are going to spin this.." Lisa spoke, she sounded rather disheartened "I'm glad those poor people are being taken to a safe place, but Murkoff have some of the best lawyers in the world, I don't know what's going to come out of this.."

Alyssa swallowed at the woman's words, both she and Waylon couldn't argue, as harsh as it was, they silently agreed that she had a good point.

As the news report continued detailing the events and discoveries inside the asylum, it suddenly reminded Alyssa of something, she mumbled more to herself while they kept their attention at the screen

"How are they supposed to get Billy out of that glass ball though.. And all those wires that were connected to him.."

Hesitantly, her thoughts went back to visualizing the bizarre giant machine she saw in the laboratory, the Morphogenic Engine, the way it was connected to each glass sphere, and how the people who would be inside them would also be connected to the Engine through the myriad of cables and needles inside the spheres.

Then her heart skipped a beat when she heard the Walrider's voice, not in her head, but out loud

"With great difficulty. If they act without understanding his life support system they could easily kill him."

Everyone jumped and looked back, only to see the towering black form standing just a couple feet behind Alyssa. Unsurprisingly, a few moments of panic erupted

"Whoa!" Waylon pushed Lisa behind him, who couldn't contain a short scream, partly out of fright and partly out of shock, while they both rushed in front of their children, who were sitting on the bed.

"I told you it was a ghost!" Sam said with excitement and some fear, playfully pushing his brother, whose eyes were wide as saucers.

The Walrider paid the group little attention, he only glanced at the screen, then down at Alyssa, who placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her thumping heart

"Christ, please don't do that…" she whispered timidly, then signaled to the family to relax "It's alright, we're safe." Clearing her throat and recollecting her train of thought, she partially turned to the swarm "Life support? So that's what all those cables connected to Billy were?"

"Yes. A significant area of the laboratory was dedicated to his life support systems. They were desperate to keep him alive, since he was the best and last host they had."

Alyssa nodded with a slight frown "I see.. Still, be it paramedics or cops, they're not so reckless as to just unplug everything and take a hammer to that glass ball, they'll be careful, I hope they'll take him to a real hospital alive and well." She was more than a little surprised by his answer

"As do I."

She raised a questioning eyebrow at him, unable to help the bad feeling she got upon hearing his words, since she highly doubted he said them out of the goodness of his heart. He answered her question before she could ask it, and it only made her stomach twist "He could still serve a purpose, we could use him to lure Murkoff."

A short nervous laughter left her, she wished she could believe he wasn't being serious, but she knew better

"L..lure Murkoff.. Right.. Uhh, Lisa?"

The woman flinched from beside her husband just upon hearing her own name, but looked at her.

"We.. have to go do some shopping, right? You gonna be ready in five minutes?" Alyssa asked anxiously, still in disbelief of what the swarm just told her, trying to temporarily suppress all her questions.

Lisa only nodded quickly in response, and the younger woman took a deep breath in an attempt to relax "Okay, alright. It's all gonna be okay.. I'll see you in five."

Trying to appear casual, she began walking towards the door, and everyone jumped again when it swung open, seemingly by itself. After she walked out in the hallway, firmly closed it and looked behind, she couldn't even be concerned by the fact that the Walrider was still visible, at least at the close distance she was at

"What in the world do you mean 'lure Murkoff'?! We're here trying to keep them as far away as possible!" she whispered quickly, her confusion and anxiety over the mere idea momentarily exceeding her fear of him.

He simply signaled her to walk back to their room, and she complied, but still glanced over her shoulder expectantly.

"It is not that simple, human…"

"Then please explain it to me!" a part of her was terrified at her behavior, knowing full well what he was capable of, but she was too disturbed by the suggestion, she needed to know exactly what it meant.

The fact that now he sounded rather annoyed, however, pressed her to hold her tongue

"Be quiet. You are too emotional, I will explain everything to you if the situation requires it."

Increasing her pace, she bit her lip with concern, but kept her words to herself.

 _Too emotional?! Of course I'm emotional, my life is on the line!_

Her mind raced with possibilities, all of them dangerous, she couldn't shake the fresh memory of their most recent encounter with Murkoff, the car chase, the bullets flying, the clear murderous orders the agents had; the mere thought of purposefully going anywhere near people like that deeply disturbed her, even making her wonder if she was suffering from some sort of mild PTSD after the close-call, and the fact that he didn't want to give her any details was only making her fears worse.

When she reached their room, she raised her arm to open the door, only to freeze when his hand gripped her forearm, not too tightly, but firmly. She looked up at him with a frown of frustration, fear, and some anger, but he sounded surprisingly calm

"They will not touch you."

For reasons she didn't fully understand, his words had an instant effect, her frown vanished, and the frustration melted, but left behind a bizarre hint of sadness. Only then did she realize how tense she was, and physically relaxed with a soft sigh, then nodded slowly. He let go of her, and after walking inside the room, Alyssa closed the door and leaned her back against it.

As he floated several feet ahead and stopped by the window, he seemed completely unfazed, while her own emotions were running wild. She stared vaguely in front at nothing, before her gaze turned to his broad back and exposed spine, and his words rang through her mind again.

 _They won't touch me?.. Yes. You won't let them. Because you need me alive. You need me to stay alive, that's why._ She bit her lip hard, somewhat realizing that she was indeed being too emotional, just like he said, and even irrationally so. _Stop, what's wrong with me?!_

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear her mind, she began slowly walking to the bed stand and pocketing her wallet and the rest of her things from under the lamp. As she did so, she couldn't resist opening up her wallet; even though she knew it would hurt her, she looked for the pictures of her parents and brother. Unsurprisingly, the moment she saw them, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep herself from crying, and shut her eyes tightly.

With a trembling hand, she placed the wallet back in her pocket, but couldn't keep the thoughts at bay. Several doors down was the Park family, together, the parents had their children, and the children had their parents. Danger was looming over them all, but as far as Alyssa could be concerned, at least the Parks were together, and she never really realized how important that was until she was separated from her own family for an increasingly longer time while her life was at risk. She knew Waylon would lay down his life without hesitation to protect his children, and she knew her father would do the same thing for her, but he wasn't there, he hadn't been there in a long time, not out of abandonment, as he was always with her mother and brother, and with her as well, until she decided to move out by herself a few years ago.

Regret began to gnaw at her, feeling almost as if she had abandoned them, she recalled how content she was when she first moved out and lived by herself, how she enjoyed the supposed peace and quiet, the time to herself. Now, she would have given up all that peace and quiet just to be with her family. A part of her knew that would be dangerous, since Murkoff were after her, she couldn't risk the safety of her loved ones, but as selfish as it was, she couldn't help it, the accumulated stress and sense of the constant threat was beginning to get to her, she almost felt like she was losing her grip.

When she glanced at the Walrider, it only made her feel worse. Despite the fact that he would do his best to keep her safe, she was well aware that he was only doing that because she was his host, it was only in his own best interest. Again, she felt a sense of selfishness, but this one made her uncomfortable and also confused her, she didn't understand why that fact bothered her so much, after all, they had only met days prior, and he was the closest thing to a real-life monster she'd ever encountered, judging both by his nature and his actions. Even so, she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit the surreal connection she felt towards him, which only puzzled her further, and made her feel somewhat guilty, unable to forget what he had done and what he was capable of doing.

Trying to dismiss the cocktail of emotions that was threatening to overwhelm her, she decided to blame it on the fact that at the end of the day, she was mostly by herself, it was normal to be bothered by something like that, especially when your life was on the line, but she knew it wasn't entirely true, she couldn't convince herself otherwise.

Slowly, she turned around and walked up to the window, but remained a few feet away from the swarm. Her gaze dropped down to the street where people and cars were passing by, and a random thought came to her mind, wondering how many of them were in a similar or worse situation than herself and the Parks. Something told her not many, if any at all.

A soft sigh left her, her recent emotional state genuinely made her wonder if she was beginning to lose her mind, she wanted to ask the Walrider if there was something wrong with her brain, but she was too terrified of hearing a confirming answer. It frustrated her, because she always lived by the principle of knowing the truth no matter how unpleasant it was, but the possibility of losing her grip on her sanity was too frightening for her. Trying to distract herself, she suddenly blurted out a different question

"How did you get along with your previous hosts? Was there some sort of connection with them?"

The Walrider looked down at her mildly curiously, when he spoke he sounded almost amused "Connection? Just this link of life. The ones that were lucid enough to acknowledge what was happening hated me. They insisted I was invading their minds. They weren't mistaken, but I had little choice, it was either that, or sink into the abyss."

Alyssa swallowed and nodded vaguely, she was already well aware of the link of life he mentioned, but in her case, as uneasy as it made her, she felt there was something more. She shook her head again, as with that thought also came some guilt. Much to her chagrin, the previous question was the next thing that sprang in her mind.

Taking in a deep breath, she hesitantly exhaled and blurted out "Please tell me what's wrong with me."

It bothered her that he sounded so nonchalant while she was struggling with a cocktail of confusing and conflicting emotions

"What is it now?.."

"I-is there something wrong with my brain? I feel like I'm losing my damn mind…" her words faded as her heart thumped harder in anticipation. It wasn't for long, however.

"All your internal organs are in perfect state and functioning well."

The sense of relief she felt upon hearing his words made her realize how tense she had been again, her shoulders slumped as she relaxed and stepped forward to the window, placing a hand on the glass.

"Perhaps you are not used to this type of stress." He said, and Alyssa cracked a brief, very unamused smile

"To say the very least…"

"You will get used to it, you don't have much of a choice, Murkoff are not going to stop."

Alyssa swallowed when she heard his last words, it was one thing to hear something similar from Lisa earlier, but to hear him state it so plainly, it further solidified the reality she feared the most, it was like another nail in her coffin.

Suddenly, a brief knock on the door made her flinch, but quickly relaxed when she recalled that she was supposed to go out with Lisa soon. Her eyes lingered on the Walrider for a few seconds, as the nanites fell off of him like flowing sand, scattering in the air, leaving behind his skeleton, before it vanished as well.

She took a small breath and recomposed herself before answering the door. As she walked towards it, she threw a quick glance at her half eaten breakfast, she wasn't hungry anymore, but decided to finish it later just so she wouldn't be bothered by hunger again too soon.

"Hey Lisa, ready?" She tried to speak in a casual tone as she met the woman, who still seemed slightly unsettled after the earlier event.

Lisa nodded "Yeah, let's go."

When Alyssa stepped out of the room but kept the door open for a few moments for no apparent reason, the other woman seemed briefly puzzled, but then frowned and took some steps back upon noticing a hint of a dark smoke-like substance exiting the room.

Alyssa didn't try to comfort the woman again, as careless as that might've seemed, she was too stuck in her own issues at the time. Besides, she felt she had already told her he is no threat to them quite a number of times, but it had no effect. Not that she blamed her, not at all, she was aware that if she knew next to nothing about him she would react the same, if not worse.

She turned and locked the door, despite not leaving any valuables behind, then followed Lisa down the hallway.

After they walked inside the elevator and started the descent, she reached into her purse and handed Alyssa the car keys silently. The younger woman stared at them only for a few moments before pocketing them, then spoke matter-of-factly

"We're going on foot, though." She explained upon receiving a questioning and somewhat concerned look from the other woman "They know the damage they did to the car, I don't want to drive it around unless absolutely necessary. Plus, I don't want some cop to notice either."

Lisa seemed still mildly uneasy, but nodded "Let's not walk too far then.."

Reaching the ground floor and exiting the hotel, they kept to the sidewalk and walked casually. Since they were both new to the city, they had to ask for directions to some clothing stores from people passing by.

As they followed the indicated route, Alyssa noticed that the city was fairly busy, but not as much as she anticipated. They walked mostly in silence, it was easy to tell there was tension in the atmosphere. She took a deep breath and tried to relax as she exhaled, she wasn't surprised, Lisa didn't seem too optimistic about the recent news on the asylum.

Trying not to let the other's pessimism wash over her as well, she began casually looking around. People were walking by, some happy, some upset, some with their children, at restaurants, laughing and chatting. Alyssa felt a tinge of unpleasant emotions that she had not too long before while watching other people, and quickly dismissed them.

 _Stop it, you can't change the past.. You made your decisions, they brought you to this point, there's no going back._

Her gaze turned forward, then followed a moderately tall building to the top, that was still in construction. Without really intending to, her eyes began scanning the square holes in the cement walls that were going to be windows in the future, and a sense of uneasiness rose in her. Try as she might, she couldn't unglue her gaze from the building until she was convinced there was no one with a sniper rifle lurking in any of the windows.

 _Christ, stop it, they don't know who I am yet._

She pushed herself to look ahead again, pushing the paranoid thoughts out of her mind as well, and noticed Lisa in the corner of her eye.

 _But they know who she is._

"This should be it." the woman suddenly spoke, slightly startling Alyssa, as they stopped in front of a clothing store with semi-transparent gold glass walls.

Walking inside, they were pleasantly surprised to see it was a rather large store with a variety of products.

"Sorry Waylon couldn't come, we couldn't leave the kids alone."

"Don't worry, get what you need, then we have to find some hair dye. You and Waylon need to change your appearance as soon as possible, Mrs. Park, for the sake of all of us." Alyssa tried not to sound condemning, and the woman nodded.

They occasionally split up, not at a too great distance, as they walked through the store in search for new clothing. When Alyssa noticed some purses on display, she approached and inspected one of them, but as much as she liked its design, a realization hit her. It had only been a few days, but judging by the misadventures she'd had until then, it wasn't unlikely that she would have to go through similar or even worse events, it made her change her mind about hanging a purse on her arm all the time.

Instead, she walked around the store a bit further until she found a number of backpacks. Figuring that it would be both more spacious and easier to carry than a purse, she decided to buy one, picking a moderately sized, black backpack.

To replace her trusty and protective but somewhat heavy boots, she picked a pair of dark grey and blue running shoes. Even though she knew they would be lighter and easier to wear, she couldn't help but exhale with a sense of foreboding.

 _Let's hope I won't be doing too much running for my life in these._

For pants, she picked a pair of dark skinny jeans, along with a navy blue, thin strap top, plus other miscellaneous items like undergarments. As content as she was with the new outfit, she couldn't ignore the fact that she would feel a little exposed in it, and even though it was warm outside at the time, there was no telling when she would need an extra layer of protection, be it from rain or incoming colder temperatures.

She strolled around the store and occasionally met up with Lisa, who was halfway through her shopping, until she came across some racks of black faux leather jackets, and her eyes lit up. Browsing through them, she found a shorter one that reached slightly below her ribs, which also had a hood. She stepped in front of one of the tall mirrors on the wall, tried it on, and a small smirk grew on her face upon raising the hood over her head.

 _Much better._

It was a bit difficult to carry everything on her arm now, so she began looking for Lisa in the hopes that she'd found all she needed as well so that they could pay and leave. Past a corner, she found the woman in the children's section, browsing through clothes, but when she began walking towards her, the Walrider's voice in her head slightly startled her.

 **_Come here._ **

She blinked in surprise and looked around with some unease, even though she highly doubted he would materialize in a fairly busy store.

A faint smile appeared on her face when she spotted a jacket on a distant rack signaling at her to approach, before its sleeve dropped limp, and she complied.

 _God, if I saw something like this just last week I would've freaked out so bad I would've busted through this glass in a panic and ran for miles.._ She gently bit the inside of her cheek to stop the silly smile that lingered on her face at the thought and mental image, it seemed funny now, but she wouldn't have laughed in that scenario.

When she reached the lively jacket, she next noticed a slowly spinning circular rack. Hanging from it were a number of pieces of cloth of various colors, but mostly dark, that she couldn't yet identify. As she approached and inspected one of them, she immediately understood; they were bandanna.

Her fingers lingered on the material, she swallowed with apprehension and after glancing around to make sure no one was near enough, whispered

"Is it really necessary?.." She didn't really know why she even asked the question, since she already knew the answer.

 **_The situation could turn dire, human. Murkoff's lawyers will fight tooth and nail against the asylum incident, and if they consider it threatening enough, they will act like a threatened animal, they will bite back, they will do everything in their power to finish their mission before they're extinguished. If they figure out your identity, they will go after your weakness, your family. I can protect you, but not them, that much should be obvious._ **

That was all the convincing she needed, she quickly browsed through the bandanna, and on a whim, picked a black one with a skull pattern on the face.

 _So we're screwed if the asylum doesn't get them in trouble, and we're screwed if it does get them in trouble too? Lovely…_ A small sigh left her, but she pushed the concerned thoughts away and went to find Lisa.

When she found the woman, she noticed she had picked somewhat similar, comfortable clothing, blue jeans and a long sleeved peach colored blouse for herself; beige cargo pants with a black t-shirt, jacket and a cap for Waylon; and somewhat more colorful shirts, along with pants for the children.

"Finished?" Lisa spotted the other woman and said, while struggling a little with all the clothes on her arm.

"I think so. It's not gonna make us invisible, but it's better than nothing."

As they walked to the check out, Alyssa reached for a shelf and picked up a wide-brimmed straw hat with a beige bow on the side, then placed it on the woman's head, semi-jokingly.

Lisa took it off to examine it, briefly puzzled by her gesture, but smiled upon seeing it herself "Oh, not bad, actually."

Well aware of Murkoff's sophisticated facial recognition software, this was the best Alyssa could do for her, since she couldn't really demand she bought a bandanna too. Reaching the check out, they paid for the clothing, placed them in bags for easier carry then left the store.

Outside, they asked for directions to a cosmetics store, and much to their luck, it was only two blocks down the street.

"What about Sam and Alex and their studies, Mrs. Park? They're missing school, and they'll probably keep missing it for a while." Alyssa asked, now in a more tranquil mood, as they strolled down the sidewalk.

Lisa seemed thoughtful for a few moments "They are, but what can we do. I just hope we aren't going to be gone long enough that they'll have to repeat the year." She scoffed with some amusement "Not that they're bothered by not going to school, to say the least, but what do they know."

Alyssa flashed an optimistic smile "This craziness can't last that long." Glancing around briefly, she lowered her voice "Murkoff are in trouble after the raid on the asylum. Your husband and I risked our lives for that evidence, and it's paying off now, things are gonna have to start looking up soon."

"I don't know, Alyssa, people say that after a certain point, not even the best lawyers in the world can save you, but I'm still afraid." She spoke in a rather serious tone without missing a beat "I'm glad that the asylum is being investigated, but we have to look at the bigger picture; I don't know how much you know about Murkoff, but after Waylon kept telling me how he doesn't trust them and the rumors he heard, I looked into them a lot. Did you know they were accused of human rights violations countless times before, with pretty good evidence, but they slithered their way around, like the snakes they are, and got away with it? Trials last a long time, and this one's barely beginning, I don't want to get lulled into a false sense of security."

Her words rained on Alyssa's parade a little, but she couldn't deny that she had some good points. She remained thoughtfully quiet for a few seconds, before the woman continued, now in a more positive tone

"Oh, sorry, I get so pessimistic sometimes. On the bright side, like I said, the trial just started, but good things could very well happen too, I just don't want to let my guard down, for the children."

Alyssa nodded in understanding "You're right, things could go either way, the best thing we can do right now is keep staying under the radar and get as far away as we can from the asylum. Stressing over scary what-ifs isn't gonna help anyone."

The other woman scoffed with some amusement and frustration "But it sure is easy to do for hours. It took me forever to fall asleep last night, my mind just wouldn't stop.."

"Tell me about it.." Alyssa whispered in a similar manner as they reached and walked into the cosmetics store.

It was small to moderately sized, so it wasn't long until they found the large shelf stacked with hair dyes of a myriad of colors. To her surprise, it only took Lisa less than half a minute to pick two boxes of a blonde shade, leaving Alyssa to her own struggle of choice.

"Really? How am I supposed to do this?" she said with some playful frustration as her eyes scanned over the rows of boxes, and Lisa chuckled under her breath in the quiet store

"Pick a red, it'll match with your light skin, like this." The woman picked a cherry red off the shelf and handed it to her.

Alyssa gazed at the box with some skepticism, then at the other similar shades, but had to admit she liked that one the most. She took a strand of her own moderately light auburn hair to compare it to the color on the package, and felt slightly odd upon seeing the difference, but didn't protest.

"It'll be easier for you since your hair isn't that dark and you're not going too light, even more so if you never dyed it before. For me it'll be a while though, I'm afraid I'll have to nag you to dye it at least twice before it takes the right shade." Lisa spoke instead, semi-seriously.

"Don't worry, I wish hair dye was our biggest problem." Alyssa hinted to their far more important issues, but kept her tone casual.

They purchased the products, but before leaving, Alyssa decided to buy some makeup and a hair brush for herself, not entirely sure why, as the makeup was not a necessity, although the lip gloss would be useful in preventing chapped lips.

On the way back, they stopped at a grocery store to buy some more food for the road, then made the moderately short trip to the hotel. They both felt a slight sense of relief when they stepped inside it, even though they were in a big busy city, Alyssa still couldn't quite feel safe out in the open. She remained quiet in the elevator, lost in her own thoughts, almost finding it hard to believe that the situation was getting so bad that she would have to cover her face in order to protect her family's lives.

"Now that I can stay with the kids, you can go with Waylon to get the car fixed if you need him to help. Though do you think you can do my hair before leaving, so the dye can work in the mean time?" Lisa's words drew some of her attention, and she just nodded, partially still busy in her own mind.

While waiting for the elevator to reach their floor, she let her gaze drop casually in mild impatience, and was slightly startled of what she saw. Around her boots and the woman's shoes, nearly up to their ankles, she could notice a layer of dark mist, it wasn't overtly visible, but from this distance, she could see it fairly well. She was glad Lisa hadn't noticed it, due to the fact that the cabin was relatively small and the woman was looking straight ahead, since she really didn't need her to start freaking out in the enclosed space.

Her mind went back to what the Walrider told her about nanites back in Buena Vista, she raised her hand to her chest and discreetly looked down at the barely visible veins in her wrist.

 _Just how many nanites am I.. making?_ A few hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she recalled the way he explained what her own cells were doing, she was still not comfortable with that fact, but suppressed it, well aware that she had other things to worry about, that, unlike this, were actual threats, not merely emotionally upsetting things.

Once the elevator reached their floor and its doors opened, they began walking down the hallway, but Alyssa sneaked a peek behind and down. As she expected, she could no longer see any dark mist, the swarm had dissipated in the air.


	24. Chapter 24

After Lisa unlocked the door then locked it behind them, they placed the bags on the futon; they found the kids on the bed watching cartoons, but Waylon was nowhere in sight. Some concern grew in his wife, especially when they heard an odd buzzing sound, and she asked towards her children, placing her hands on her hips

"Where's your father?"

Without looking away from the TV, Alex only pointed to the bathroom, where the buzzing sound also was coming from.

The two women exchanged curious glances, then walked up to the bathroom somewhat cautiously, and were taken off guard by the sight of the man. Waylon stood leaning over the sink, shirtless, with a buzzing hair clipper in his hand, some hair in the sink, on the floor and on his back, and the hair on a third of his scalp so short it was almost bald. He turned to them and spoke casually

"Oh, you're back."

Lisa placed her hands on her hips again and frowned lightly "Just what the heck are you doing?"

Her husband seemed a bit taken aback by the question "What do you mean? The plan _was_ to change our appearance, I'm doing what I can."

Alyssa suppressed a smile and stepped away, while Lisa's voice was a mix of confusion and mild anger "But.. where did you get that hair clipper?"

"Bought it." The man said, his tone implying that his answer should've been obvious.

"From the hotel?" she questioned, still rather impatiently.

"No."

"Then?"

"There's a store down the street."

At that, Lisa sounded almost outraged "You left Sam and Alex alone to go to a store?!"

"Jesus, no, I didn't go to the store."

"Then how did you buy it?!"

"Paid a hobo to fetch it for me."

The woman frowned and paused, puzzled "You what?.." sounding more calm, but only out of confusion

"I left them locked in the room for just two minutes, alright? Walked in front of the hotel and there was a hobo skulking around, he looked like he needed a buck so we made a deal. He looked cleaner than your average hobo, if that makes you feel any better, and brought the package sealed." He spoke casually and continued trimming his hair.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was placing the hair dye boxes on the desk and preparing the contents for use, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing upon hearing the man's words, but she was only semi-successful.

Lisa, on the other hand, was not amused at all, her jaw slightly dropped and she kept her mouth open in an attempt to find the appropriate words to respond, but a few seconds later of staring at the man, she raised her hands off her hips then let them drop

"I give up." Before stepping out, she grabbed a towel off the towel rack then walked over to the desk where Alyssa was reading the instructions for the dye.

"Why isn't the TV on the news?" she asked towards her husband after glancing at the screen displaying cartoons.

"It's a big story, but they can't talk about it 24/7, they gave us all the details they had. Or all the ones they could.. They started talking about other unrelated reports, let the kids have some fun, they've been bored out of their minds lately." Waylon raised his voice slightly so he would be heard from the bathroom, and Lisa sighed, but relaxed.

She placed the towel on the back of the chair at the desk, then opened one of their suitcases on the bed and pulled out a comb along with several hair clips. After wrapping the towel around her shoulders and sitting down, she began combing and parting her hair while explaining to the other woman how the process worked.

It was somewhat tedious to Alyssa, and it took a while, but with the given instructions, she was managing to do a good enough job.

"So, about the car.." Waylon said as he walked out of the bathroom with a nearly bald head after cleaning up after himself.

Alyssa glanced over at him, and couldn't help flinching, his new look had suddenly brought back memories from the asylum.

"What's wrong?" The man asked, and Lisa gave her a questioning look as well upon noticing her reaction, but Alyssa shook her head

"Nothing, sorry, your new lack of hair just reminded me of someone very unpleasant from the asylum." She cleared her throat and dismissed the disturbing thoughts "Yes, the car, can we take it to the body shop after we're done here?" she asked, trying to keep her focus on spreading the dye through Lisa's hair.

"Take your time." Waylon said, almost under his breath, then took his new clothes into the bathroom to change. After he was done, he sat on the bed behind the kids and waited for the women to finish their own business.

Twenty minutes later, Alyssa took off the plastic gloves that were slightly sweaty on the inside and placed them in the trash bin. Making sure the car keys were still in her pocket and that she had enough cash on her, she exited the room with Waylon, leaving Lisa behind to stay with the kids and manage her hair.

"We should probably ask for directions to a good body shop." She said casually as they stepped inside the elevator, but the man waved his hand dismissively after pressing the ground floor button

"Nah, I've been in Denver before, I know a place nearby, I'll take us there."

Alyssa nodded, but wasn't sure she liked the idea of him driving the damaged car

"Very well, but I should drive, just in case we get some unwanted cop attention, I don't want your name on record for a fine."

"Fair enough."

Out of curiosity, she glanced down at the elevator floor, and wasn't too surprised to see the layer of dark mist around their feet again. As expected, it dissipated once the doors opened as they reached the ground floor.

In the parking lot, Waylon spoke up when they caught sight of the car "The plates are still bothering me." And Alyssa paused in front of the vehicle

"Changing them won't be a problem, leave it to us. But.." she briefly glanced around the parking lot "We shouldn't make fake license plates and hand the car over for repairs.

Waylon raised a questioning eyebrow at her first sentence, but agreed "Our best bet is to change the plates the moment we got it back then leave the city immediately."

Alyssa wasn't content with the situation, feeling somewhat unsafe, but found no alternative, and decided to follow Waylon's advice "I don't like it, but it'll have to do." She said as she got in the car and the man followed.

"Don't worry, it's highly unlikely they already know who you are, we'll change the plates then get outta dodge asap, Murkoff won't have a clue."

A short sigh left her as she drove out of the parking lot and down the street, but his words made her relax "You're right, sorry, I get so damn paranoid sometimes. Now kindly direct me to that body shop, Mr. Park."

"Alright. So, take the next left by that white truck."

It had been nearly an hour since they started the search for the body shop, guided by Waylon's ever-changing directions, reaching the suburbia on almost every side of the city. Alyssa's frustrated expression was partially hidden by her hair, but she couldn't really mask it in the tone of her voice

"Mr. Park, please, let's ask someone-"

"No, no, I know this one, we're almost there, keep going then take a right after that stop light." The man insisted, signaling ahead with his hand, and Alyssa exhaled quietly.

Fifteen minutes later, they had finally found a body shop. Alyssa stretched her legs and stepped out of the car, mildly irritated at the time it took to make the trip simply because the man refused to ask locals for help, but she was grateful for the fact that they hadn't attracted any police attention on the way.

Since the body shop was relatively far away from the city center, it wasn't too busy, raising her hopes that the repairs would be done quicker. After speaking to a mechanic and leaving her phone number to be notified when the job would be finished, they left the shop and the car behind.

Without a means of transportation other than their own legs, they walked until they found a taxi, and paid for a ride back into downtown. Before they reached the hotel, however, Alyssa spoke towards the driver

"Could you please pull over by an internet cafe?" The man nodded, but Waylon spoke up

"Why, what are you planning?"

She seemed slightly hesitant to reply "I want to check some things.. You know about what. Maybe you should come with me."

The man picked up on her hint and agreed, but said nothing else in the stranger's presence for safety concerns.

Once arrived at the internet cafe, they left the taxi and stepped inside, it wasn't crowded, but not scarcely populated either, and the light was moderately low.

"I assume TV news aren't good enough for you? Not that I blame you, considering the things that are at stake.." the man spoke under his breath as they made a payment and walked towards one of the corners of the room where there were less people.

"You could say so." Alyssa whispered back and took a seat at a computer while Waylon sat at the one besides hers.

After discreetly glancing around to make sure no one suspicious was near, and that they didn't look suspicious themselves, she opened up an anonymous search window and searched for recent news on the Murkoff Corporation and the Mount Massive Asylum.

"Looks like we aren't lacking in reports this time around, thank god." Waylon said as he checked through his own results, but Alyssa's eyes kept scanning over her screen in silence.

It was tempting to agree that the abundance of news reports was good for them, and in a way, it was, but the Walrider's words kept coming back to her mind. _If Murkoff are cornered they'll bite back…_ She swallowed in apprehension as her gaze traveled down the plethora of articles on the asylum incident.

Skimming through a number of them, she discovered that the patients had been transferred to a hospital she was unfamiliar with. She checked an online map, and a few hairs on the back of her neck stood up upon learning that the hospital wasn't too far from Denver, only an hour away from their current location.

 _Good luck with those poor bastards.._ Even though she knew the patients were mentally ill and taken advantage of, she could speak from first-hand experience about how dangerous they were, and hoped the hospital staff would take the appropriate precautions in dealing with them.

As she continued browsing through more articles, she grew increasingly disappointed at the lack of development, several official sources confirmed that a legal process had started, but not many details were published.

 _Relax, it's only just beginning, this stuff takes a while.._ She rubbed her temple, and briefly raised her head to look around again, but they were inconspicuous.

Still, she was dissatisfied with her search, she leaned back in her seat and stared blankly at the screen as the cogs in her mind span. When her gaze shifted towards Waylon, a random idea struck her, but the moment it did, it was accompanied by a bad feeling. Without saying a word, she reached for the keyboard and did another anonymous search for the man's first and last name.

The more her eyes scanned through the results as she scrolled down, the shallower her breath and the frown on her face grew.

 _What in the world…_ She threw a discreet glance at the man next to her, who seemed busy with his own reading, but didn't say anything just yet.

The dates of the articles ranged from months ago to years ago, she opened several in separate tabs, all of them allegedly written by Waylon Park, and couldn't believe what she was reading; the most recent one heavily promoted the video evidence they had filmed in the asylum, while the rest of them were focused on the most bizarre subjects.

 _Lizard people secretly running the government, CERN opening portals to hell, Walmart stores being converted into FEMA prison camps, Nazi bunkers in Antarctica, the Earth being flat, yoga being satanic, dinosaurs built the pyramids.. What in the hell… No…_

The articles weren't just asinine, but also riddled with spelling mistakes and awful grammar. It didn't fool Alyssa for a second.

With no time wasted, she grabbed the man's sleeve and pulled him towards her screen, rolling her chair partially out of the way, then pointed at the monitor.

"What, what's wrong?" He whispered with a faint puzzled frown, but Alyssa remained quiet and allowed him to read the text on her screen.

Unsurprisingly, the man's frown deepened as his eyes quickly read through the article, he switched the tabs to inspect the rest, and shook his head in disbelief

"What in the fuck…" he whispered barely audibly as his jaw slightly dropped "What the hell is this? I swear I never wrote anything like this in my life!" his voice raised a few tones, and Alyssa signaled him to remain quiet.

She glanced around, making sure there was no one within ear-shot and that they hadn't attracted any attention before whispering back

"I know, Mr. Park, I believe you, it looks like Murkoff are dragging your name through dirt to make you seem like an untrustworthy lunatic if you ever come out publicly against them and at the same time making our evidence less credible."

"Motherfuckers…" the man said as he kept switching between the absurd articles incredulously, and squeezed his fist as the frustration was building inside him.

"Some of the dates are from as far back as 2007… They can manipulate that?" Alyssa asked quietly, and Waylon nodded, still in disbelief at the discovery

"Yeah… Yeah, their tech people could've done that easily. Fuck…"

Alyssa told herself that perhaps they should have expected this type of countermeasures, but she still felt awful for the man

"It's too late for those bastards, the police already raided the asylum, the dozens of dead bodies don't lie." She tried to encourage Waylon, who rested his head on his hand, his eyes glued to the unbelievable text on the screen "Only idiots will get fooled by this, most people will be able to tell it's fake."

The man exhaled heavily and rolled his chair back "I guess, but there's plenty of idiots in this country, Miss Fox. Let's get the hell outta here."

Unsure of what else to say, Alyssa just nodded and followed him out of the building. They made the relatively short walk back to the hotel mostly in silence, it was easy to tell that Waylon was not looking forward to sharing the bad news with his wife, understandably so.

"Mr. Park…" she decided to break the silence in the elevator

"Hm?" the man mumbled while leaning on the wall of the cabin, partially lost in thoughts

"If, eventually, things really go down the gutter…" she swallowed, and pushed herself to get her next words out "But we still make it out alive.. Maybe you could change your identity."

Waylon scoffed and straightened himself up "If things get that bad we might not have a choice, we might have to do it to disappear ourselves and stay alive."

Alyssa exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she was holding, hoping that it would not have to come to that, but also recalling that her own identity was still most likely unknown as of yet. It did give her some comfort, but not much, as she judged that the more time passed, the higher her risk of being identified, unless the situation got out of hand for Murkoff.

After they walked in the hotel room, Waylon shared the details of their internet discovery, and, unsurprisingly, Lisa was not thrilled at all, but didn't seem to want to discuss it further.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Park?" Alyssa asked, and the woman walked over to the desk and unboxed the red dye

"We'll be fine… I'm just tired, Alyssa. Emotionally, I'm exhausted. Come on, let's get your hair done."

She nodded quietly and sat at the desk, too familiar with the emotional exhaustion Lisa was talking about.

The woman started working on her hair, which was a slightly more difficult and lengthier process due to the fact that it reached the middle of her back. On the TV, they occasionally surfed through several news channels, but there was little in terms of development, only a few details that they hadn't heard before.

The time it took to color her hair was somewhat longer than Alyssa was comfortable with, but she didn't complain, and with the passing time, everyone's mood became less tense and somber. After they were done, the other woman told her to wait an hour before she washed her hair, and Alyssa picked up her bag of clothes off the futon before saying her temporary goodbyes and leaving the family to themselves.

The moment she heard the click upon closing the door behind her, a soft sigh left her, and she slowly began walking back to her own room. A semi-distant laugh attracted her attention, she glanced back to see a small group of people approaching and stopping at another door, but she paid them little mind. Reaching her own room, she locked the door behind her, and heard the voice right after placing the bag of clothes on the futon near the window

"Colored hair and clothes will not fool Murkoff's facial recognition software."

She was a bit surprised at herself for not flinching for once, she turned around to see the Walrider floating towards her, mostly in skeleton form, while nanites were gathering to shape the rest of his body

"Nice to see you too…" Alyssa mumbled more to herself as she sat on the bench at the end of the bed and tried to finish her breakfast from earlier "But it's better than nothing, I can't really change my body. Unlike someone else I know…" she said mildly playfully, for reasons she was unsure of, her mood had slightly lifted rather abruptly.

Still, she was a bit taken aback when he suddenly sat next to her

"Perhaps I could help there. I have experience in changing human bone shape, but for different purposes." He leaned towards her, and she reflexively leaned away, then almost choked on her orange juice upon hearing his words

"Hell no! Don't you do any experiments on me, it's weird enough that I have to live with robots swimming inside me!"

He stared at her silently for a few moments before speaking again

"Are you su-"

"Yes, I am _so_ sure, I have never been more sure of anything in my life!" Alyssa couldn't keep herself from raising her voice slightly, not out of anger, but out of fear at the mere idea of nanites eating through the bones of her face under her skin to change their shape, she suppressed a shudder. He said nothing in response, only leaned back to give her space, and she cleared her throat "Sorry, just.. leave my bones alone, please."

Grabbing the remote, she surfed through news channels, but once again, there was nothing important being reported "Why do I even bother anymore, it's only been a few hours.." she mumbled to herself, and changed the channel, somewhat tired of the seemingly endless supply of bad news that could be on TV.

"You heard what they did to Waylon, right?" she said, trying to sound casual

"Yes."

"And? What do you think?"

"I don't care."

Alyssa frowned slightly and averted her gaze from him.

 _Why would I expect anything different._

He must have noticed her distaste for his answer, as he continued "By now you should understand that my only priorities are protecting us, and finding Wernicke. Everything else is a nuisance, and _us_ does not include _them_."

She swallowed her food and stopped eating briefly, as much as she wished he would be more willing to care for the lives of the Park family as well, she couldn't necessarily blame him, after all, they were dealing with Murkoff, and his objective of locating Wernicke was already a tall order, she decided there was no point in getting upset over his words.

"I understand.." she said slightly under her breath, then a sudden realization hit her "Wait.. Is that why you want to lure out Murkoff? Could it lead us to Wernicke?"

The Walrider seemed quietly thoughtful for a moment, he crossed his arms and leaned back "Not necessarily, but there is a possibility."

"I see.. then, why?"

He did not hesitate this time "I must know exactly what Murkoff's portable EMPs look like, human. Examine them, if the opportunity is present. They are capable of destroying my nanobots, the main means of protecting you, so for your sake, I suggest you become interested as well. This would be the ideal time to act, take advantage of the fact that they are distracted by the legal action against them and invested in the trial."

Alyssa paused, and a small frown set on her face "I can't argue with that.. but, what do you want me to do? We're supposed to be running _away_ from them, I don't want to go anywhere near any of those bastards, I still remember the freakin' bullets flying around my car."

"All you would be required to do is go where you're told. As I said before, I will not let them touch you."

His words comforted her more than they should have, she realized that much, but had no clue as of why. It was almost tempting to agree to whatever he had planned on the spot, but she just couldn't shake the distressing memory of the earlier encounter with the agents bent on killing at the very least herself and Waylon, and she doubted that they wouldn't harm Lisa and the children.

She stared towards the TV screen, but her attention remained with her thoughts. Several long seconds later, she spoke somewhat timidly "I need more time…"

The swarm said nothing in response; Alyssa finished her breakfast, and checked her phone to make sure she would wash her hair at the right hour.

Walking into the bathroom, she checked her clothes and hairline to make sure there was no dye where it shouldn't be, then stepped over to the wall-sized window in the bedroom. White and light grey clouds of various sizes were slowly flying by in the sky, and she squinted when the sun shone brighter as one of them floated out of the way.

A distant thin trail of white attracted her attention, she looked west, and noticed a plane approaching the landing strip of the Denver International Airport. She stepped closer to the glass and raised her hand to her forehead to shield her view from the bright sunlight, almost wishing for a pair of binoculars as her eyes followed the airplane gliding towards its destination

"Do you know what's over there?" Alyssa asked without looking away

The Walrider didn't immediately respond, he considered simply ignoring her question, as it didn't seem important, but eventually decided against it. Slowly, he stood up from the bench and floated towards the window, next to her

"The airport." He stated plainly, sounding almost bored and bothered by her apparently pointless question

"Not just any airport, that's _the_ Denver International Airport. It's quite a creepfest, you know." A small smirk grew on her face, and the swarm placed his forearm over the window as he leaned on it and looked down at her with a hint of curiosity

"Explain." He seemed just a tinge less bored and bothered

Her eyes shifted to him for a second, then back towards the landing strips in the distance "Heh, I've never been there, but I looked into it. There were other perfectly good airports in Denver before this one was built, and closer as well. Its construction was entirely privately funded too, by a weird organization only known as the 'New World Airport Commission', it's 33 acres in size, a Masonic number, and there's a Freemason symbol engraved on the stone placed over the time capsule there. Of course, there's also the talk about the real bunkers and tunnels underneath the airport, supposedly made just for storage purposes, the swastika shape of the landing strips formations, not to mention the myriad of bizarre and downright disturbing murals and sculptures inside the terminal. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak." A slight chuckle left her "Pretty odd, huh?"

"I suppose." The Walrider said as he stared in the distance towards the airport "But speaking to a swarm of nano-robots you encountered in a secret laboratory underneath a mental asylum would be considered pretty odd as well." He floated back to sit on the bench and leaned back "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Alyssa's smirk widened, but she hid it by not turning around and tried to suppress it in her voice

"Good point.."

Stepping into the bathroom, she checked her hair again, then glanced towards the shower cabin. It wasn't the time to wash her tresses yet, but the large, pristine white bathtub attracted more of her attention; it had been quite a long time since she took a long hot bath, instead of the usual, relatively quick showers she was used to.

There was no need to convince herself, she waited somewhat impatiently a while longer until the dye finished its job on her hair, then walked over to the bathtub, placed the cap over the drain and turned on the hot water. As the water level began to rise, so did the steam, she leaned over the tub and a slight smile set on her face at the warm gentle feeling on her skin.

Peeking outside the bathroom, she noticed the Walrider was facing towards the window, so she comfortably began undressing and placed her clothes aside. Standing in front of the mirror in the nude, she curiously traced her fingers over the bullet wounds on her abdomen, completely healed, but each one sporting a tiny pale scar.

Experimentally, she flexed her abdominal muscles, and only felt a hint of pain upon flexing them as hard as she could. A somber feeling tried to sneak in her mind when she recalled the too fresh memory of how the wounds she was touching were supposed to be her death, and how convinced she was that they were going to be, but she pushed it away.

 _God dammit, stop, I'm sick of feeling down so much.._

She sat on the edge of the bathtub while the water poured, already relaxing as the warm steam met her skin. Once the water level was high enough, she slowly lowered herself in it, and a long sigh of content left her as she laid back in the tub, careful to keep her hair dry for the time being. She gave in to the temptation of closing her eyes while she leaned her head back and submerged herself in the water up to her neck, it was almost too hot, but deeply relaxed her muscles and eased her tension the longer she stayed soaked in.

Her mind began to wander, and as she laid under water, it persistently reminded her of the time she was in the sewer under the asylum, how completely opposite the situation was compared to now, the cold, dirty water of the sewer, the wounds she had, the darkness and especially the dangers lurking within it. A few cold chills ran down her back even in the hot water as she recalled the terrifying giant that chased her multiple times throughout the asylum and was seconds away from beheading her with his bare hands, she wrapped her arms around her chest, slowly opening her eyes, just to see the bright, clean and safe bathroom.

She quickly suppressed the gruesome memory of the other patient having his head torn off his shoulders by the giant man only meters away from her, but then another thought struck her. Hesitantly, she recalled the time she was caught in the sewer by the man, and the bizarre turn of events that allowed her to escape with her life. She tried to discreetly peek out the doorway, but she couldn't see the Walrider from her angle; she bit her lip lightly, reluctant to call for him, but she wanted to confirm the theory that was floating through her mind.

Careful not to splash water on the floor, she brought her knees to her chest and pushed herself to speak, in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner

"Ghost?.." Growing playfully tired of being only called 'human' by him, she decided to use a similarly vague and generic term for him. When she received no answer, she called again, slightly louder "Hey.. Ghost."

Since she was only expecting a verbal reply, she held back a flinch when she noticed the dark shadowy silhouette float towards the bathroom, a few inches off the floor, in an almost unnaturally smooth motion that made her skin crawl a little. He stopped right at the doorway, and slightly cocked his head at her in a questioning manner.

Somewhat uncomfortable, Alyssa squeezed her arms around her knees tighter, and pushed herself to speak "I.. I just wanted to ask you.. I was in the sewer of the asylum once. This, uh.. this giant guy was chasing me and.. Well, to be perfectly honest, I followed him at first, thought he was gonna lead me to an exit, turns out he was actually trying to block access to the exit, but I digress.." she cleared her throat, feeling slightly awkward in her current position, but more uncomfortable at the memory of nearly dying than anything else "He.. caught me there, was seconds away from getting my damn head ripped off my shoulders. I managed to get away, not for long though, I was injured and it was really hard to run through all that water, he was gonna catch me again just seconds later, then.. I-I don't really know, something happened, he started screaming and he was being tossed around like a ragdoll.. Do you…" she shook her head when the distressing feeling of her neck muscles being stretched suddenly invaded her mind, and made an effort to keep her attention in the present moment, away from the upsetting memory "It was you, wasn't it?" she finally finished, keeping her gaze in the bath tub at the calm warm water.

The sound of his chuckle took her off guard for different reasons, she definitely didn't expect it, and although it was brief, its low and gravelly pitch sent a few chills down her spine. When he spoke slowly, she could tell from his tone that he was indeed mildly amused, at the situation she described, or at her question, she wasn't sure

"Yes.. You are one slippery human." Alyssa swallowed and a small smile grew on her face as well, although it was mostly out of nervousness, she opened her mouth to speak, but he continued "More slippery than Walker himself."

She blinked in surprise upon hearing the man's name coming from the swarm "You know him?" and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning on the doorway in mid-air

"Of course…" He paused briefly, seeming almost thoughtful "His compulsion for security and containment proved troublesome at times."

That one word sparked a realization in Alyssa's mind "Wait, containment? I remember that, I was following him through the sewer, he was mumbling things to himself, including something about containment.. What the heck was he trying to contain?" she asked with a slight contemplative frown and gazed over at him.

Again, she was taken by surprise when the Walrider simply uncrossed his arms and slightly raised them to his sides, as if presenting himself

"You?!" Alyssa raised her voice a few hairs and a real smile set on her face, mostly out of astonishment "Why? How in the world was he hoping to accomplish that?"

"By doing what he attempted to do to you, on everyone he encountered. Walker was lucid enough to understand how the process worked, he knew every human in the vicinity was a potential host, he knew I could use a mobile host to escape, so he applied what he deemed the best solution: eliminate every single one of them."

Her smile faded as she listened attentively "But.. why? Did you ever try to talk to him?"

His answer was immediate "There was no reasoning with him, his defective mind ensured that. He hated Murkoff for what they did to him, yet he was only helping them by doing everything in his power to keep me captive." He glanced down at her and spoke slower "He was almost successful."

Alyssa nodded timidly as she recalled her own failed attempts to reason with the man, then suppressed a shudder when the image of his torn apart body flashed through her mind. When she said nothing, the Walrider spoke again

"Do you realize how much trouble could have been avoided if you hadn't run from me in the sewer?"

She bit her lip somewhat nervously, but couldn't feel any serious displeasure from him "I-I do now, hindsight is twenty-twenty, but for all I knew, you were going to tear me apart like the others."

It made her more than a little uncomfortable when she heard a barely audible low growl, almost more like a purr, as he stared down at her

"Perhaps I still might, but not like the others."

Alyssa almost choked on her own saliva upon hearing his words, she squeezed her arms around her knees tight, even though she couldn't believe he would be a threat to her right then and there

"What?!"

Seeing the confusion and disbelief in her eyes, he spoke casually "Relax…" then turned around and smoothly floated away from the bathroom.

She followed him with her gaze and a puzzled frown until he was out of sight, then slowly leaned back and submerged herself in the water up to her neck again. Her mind struggled to understand why he would make such a threat to her all of a sudden, seemingly for no reason; she wondered if she had provoked him in some way, she recalled the words she said to him previously, but failed to see how they could have incited the apparent threat.

Reaching for the soap, she began to wash her body, slowly and absentmindedly, while she still attempted to figure out if she was truly in danger. Soon, the realization abruptly hit her like a ton of bricks that it was likely not a threat at all, and with the shock and also the help of the soap, her hand slipped on the edge of the tub, but she managed to catch herself before her hair got wet and without too much water spilling, nor making too much noise.

 _Jesus fuck!_ She quickly stabilized herself physically, but not so much emotionally. Ignoring her flushed cheeks, she began washing her body faster, mostly in an attempt to distract herself and keep her mind busy with the task at hand.

By the time she finished, her nerves were stable again, and she prepared to wash her hair, slightly curious to see what the new color would look like. Carefully removing the plastic clips holding her hair up, she stretched to place them by the sink, then pulled the plug from the bathtub drain and turned the water on the removable shower head. As soon as she placed it over her head, she closed her eyes tightly to avoid the dye flowing in them, and kept them shut while she shampooed her hair.

It was somewhat tricky to navigate her hands in the rather unfamiliar environment without being able to see, and as tempting as it was to take a peek, she decided against it, afraid of the damage the dye could do if it got in her eyes. She rinsed her hair thoroughly, her face as well, but when it was time to open her eyes, she changed her mind and rinsed her hair again, unsure if it was enough.

After she was comfortable with the amount of water she soaked her hair in, she very gently wrung and squeezed it, then reached for a small towel next to the sink and thoroughly dried the area around her eyes. She finally opened her eyes and glanced down, then the breath froze in her lungs.

When she saw herself laying in the tub, surrounded by red liquid all around, her emotional reaction was far quicker than her rational mind, a scream escaped her as she briefly flailed in the water before she scrambled out of the tub in a panic. She landed roughly on the hard tile floor and crawled away with a whimper, while desperately searching her body with one hand for open wounds, and leaving a pale red trail behind.

At the same time, the Walrider heard her distressed scream, he dashed into the bathroom only to see his host crawling towards him with her back turned to him, moving away from the bathtub half filled with red. Immediately, he used the nanites both inside her and outside to search for any open injury that could have caused such severe bleeding, he crouched down and grabbed her shoulders to stop her from moving so much, in case she was making the situation worse for herself. Alyssa didn't react much, too lost in her shock, but he quickly realized the red liquid was not blood at all.

"Human." He tried to snap her out of it, but she also seemed to start to understand what had happened, she inhaled sharply and placed her hand over her mouth as she glanced back at the red trail she left

"I'm sorry.." she breathed shakily and began calming herself "I-I should've known, but I just saw red and thought-" she quickly turned to check the once severe wound on her thigh, but as expected, it was still fully closed, and a long shaky exhale left her.

"It seems that the asylum has left a more severe mental mark on you than you thought…" he slowly pulled her up and kept a hand around her arm to make sure she wasn't going to slip on the wet floor and fall.

Alyssa glanced over at the bathtub and the red dye water slowly draining from it, she couldn't help feeling a bit stupid, but at the same time she was glad it had been a false emergency. When she shifted her gaze to the mirror, she fully realized she was nude, but found it difficult to feel more than a little uncomfortable, and convinced herself that was due to the scare she had just experienced.

"I'll be fine.. I'll clean up here.. Thanks." She reached a hand to the sink for support, and remained quiet as he floated out of the bathroom.


	25. Chapter 25

**In this chapter I tried to describe the Walrider's texture but I highly doubt I did a good job at it, so if you wanna see the official model and texture from the game check it out on the Outlast wikia gallery, I would leave a link but this site doesn't allow any sort of links, so if you want you could check this story under the same title, under my same username on archieveofourown, I have a link on this chapter there.**  
 **Probably everyone reading this has already seen those pictures before but I just wanted to clarify.**

* * *

Carefully stepping over to the toilet, she used the paper to soak up the water from the floor until it was safe enough to walk on without slipping, then cleaned the traces of red from both the bathtub and herself. After putting on a white bathrobe, she brushed and blow-dried her hair; she was a bit surprised by the way the new color looked on her, it felt unfamiliar, but she had to admit she somewhat liked it, and told herself she would eventually grow used to it.

While still in the bathroom, she heard the channel on the TV change again, and when she stepped into the bedroom, she noticed the Walrider sitting on the bench, resting his head in his skeletal hand, partially facing the TV, on which the channels seemed to change by themselves every few seconds. The sight made a faint smile appear on her face, it seemed like a vast difference from the way she first met him, ripping people to shreds and smearing their blood and guts over the walls, but she quickly recalled that he was very much capable of doing those same things right there and then if he deemed it necessary.

She swallowed, and her eyes lingered on his exposed spine before she checked her phone, but noticed there was no message or call from the car body shop. Grabbing her disassembled smartphone as well, she laid on the bed on her back and told herself she shouldn't expect the job to be done already, seeing as not much time had passed yet.

Lazily, she turned her head towards the TV, which had been set on a news channel, she watched it silently for a few minutes, then exhaled softly in disappointment when nothing relevant to Murkoff was shown. Handling the battery of her smartphone, she felt very tempted to put them back together, even without the SIM card, but decided against it, unable to shake the feeling that it might be too risky. Grabbing the other, old model phone, she buttoned through it for a few minutes, in an attempt to find anything at least mildly entertaining, but gently tossed it aside next to her on the bed when her search came up empty.

She yawned mostly out of boredom while staring at the ceiling, and almost mumbled

"Funny how you only realize how much you need to listen to music when you can't do it for a few days in a row…"

The Walrider didn't turn to look at her "What is it now?.."

Alyssa shook her head gently "Nothing, just.. Can't use my phone, nothing on TV.. I'm gonna grow insanely bored today, until they fix the car.." she paused briefly as she glanced out the window "Can we go for a walk outside?"

But he quickly cut short what little enthusiasm she had upon asking the question "No. Unnecessary exposure."

She didn't bother trying to suppress a groan as she lazily rolled over and muffled it in the blanket. When she grew a little too grumpy at her lack of occupation over the next few minutes, she suddenly realized something that made her annoyance deflate.

 _Ugh, relax, he's been kept against his will in all sorts of horrible places for what, decades? And you can't even wait a day or less in a fancy hotel room…_

Her thoughts brought some needed patience back to her, but when she rolled over, she almost jumped when she didn't see the swarm anymore. In a second, she shot up off the bed and quickly looked around, then in the bathroom, and upon failing to find him, grew more than a little distressed.

She strode up to the door and with slightly trembling hands, attempted to unlock it, but the key refused to move no matter how hard she tried to twist it.

 _What the hell?!_

The panic began to rise in her, both trapped and separated from him, she felt that same irrational fear she had felt before when he was too far away, it made her slam her shoulder against the door, but the sturdy material hadn't even budged.

In desperation, she took the key out of the lock and inspected it, nothing seemed to be wrong with it, yet when she placed it back inside with some difficulty and tried to twist it, it still refused to rotate even a millimeter.

"Shit, shit, shit!" She whispered to herself as her heart thumped harder against her chest, and walked away from the stubborn door in defeat. She ran her hands through her new red hair, trying to both calm herself and think of a way out, then noticed the phone on the bed. Unable to find the rational patience to simply wait, she quickly grabbed the phone and her lightly trembling fingers began searching for Waylon's number.

Just before she pressed the call button, her thumb stopped over it as the inexplicable panic within her started to settle down. She glanced around at the empty room with a puzzled frown, only hearing the sound of her own thumping heart.

 _What the heck is going on?.._

Less than a minute later, she noticed the dark mist beginning to flow inside the room from underneath the door, and the sense of relief she felt was so intense she dropped herself on the bed with a few bounces, then rested her head in her palms, not watching as the mist reshaped itself into the form of the Walrider.

A heavy sigh escaped her while her heart steadily calmed and her breath returned to normal, but she didn't look up

"Why is this happening?!" her frustration over the bizarre anxiety that overwhelmed her whenever she was separated from him was starting to become too much to handle.

Instead of an answer, she flinched upon feeling something light landing in her lap, and when she looked down, she noticed a large silver smartphone, its camera blocked by a dark layer of nanites

"Wh.." she mumbled as she picked up the device, pressed a side button and blinked when the screen lit up to the home screen.

"Do not answer any calls or messages, and wipe your fingerprints after you're done." The Walrider said as he floated past her, and Alyssa's gaze shifted from the phone to him

"Where the heck did you get this?" she asked with incredulous curiosity

The swarm briefly pointed up casually "The sleeping rich fat bastard on the penthouse suite."

Alyssa suppressed a smile semi-successfully, and shook her head slowly "This is wrong…" she said, but she already began navigating to the settings to mute all incoming calls and messages.

"Is that so? I will return it then." The purpose of his statement was only to test her, he began floating towards her, but he wasn't surprised when she crawled away on the bed with the phone in hand and the smirk still on her face

"Oh, on second thought, I think the rich fat bastard can make a little sacrifice…" she rolled on her stomach and connected to the hotel's free Wi-Fi internet "What you don't know won't hurt you."

Admittedly, she felt a little guilty, but she told herself she would insist he later returns the phone to the penthouse at the top of the hotel, and having a relief from the boredom was too tempting to refuse. After connecting to the internet, she went in search for music, then placed the phone down on the blanket upon finding and playing a slow calming song. She gently stretched and a soft sigh of content left her as she relaxed on the bed and closed her eyes while the music eased her tension. She laid like that for over half an hour, occasionally switching songs, but time flew so fast it only felt like several minutes to her.

As tempting and easy as it would be to not get up or even to take a nap, she decided against it, not wanting to destabilize her sleep schedule again. Slowly but surely, she got out of bed and began taking her new clothes out of the bag on the futon. After better checking out the backpack, she transferred what few belongings she had with her inside it, and mentally thanked Lisa again for offering to carry her boots in her suitcase, since, despite not being overly large, they would occupy a bit too much space in her backpack.

It was also tempting to try on her new outfit, but again, as much as she liked trying on new clothes, she resisted the urge, and only prepared them for the evening or the following day when they would have to leave the city.

When a song she didn't like started auto-playing, she reached over for the phone and changed it, but instead of getting back up, she lazily dropped her weight on the bed, bouncing a few times.

She laid on her back and relaxed, listening to the music for a few minutes, then gazed over at the foot of the bed, only to see the dark silhouette of the Walrider, who was sitting on the center of the bench, his elbows resting on his thighs while his skeletal hands were clasped together under his chin. A large cloud floated by, allowing the sun to shine inside, illuminating the interior even more, and further accentuating the contrast between the bright room and his blackish-blue shadowy form.

Alyssa realized she was staring, but as far as she knew, he was unaware of it, and she found the nearly perfectly symmetrical dark silhouette against the bright background almost mesmerizing. What she would refuse to admit, was the way her eyes lingered and her gaze slowly slid down the shape of his broad back and muscular arms; in the bright light, she could even see the details of muscle striations.

She figured that he could take any shape he wanted, and couldn't help wondering why he chose this. A few seconds later, she bluntly spoke out

"Why do you look like that?"

She noticed his almost unnoticeable head movement upon hearing her question, and it made her feel slightly nervous when he sat up and turned to her. Trying to keep her eyes from inspecting the front of his body as well, she lightly bit her tongue and blinked at him, attempting to appear merely innocently curious, which, she mostly was.

"My form is more fluid than water, human." He raised a skeletal hand, and within a few seconds, she could see the dark stream of mist that was gathering from the air, merging and blending with the rest of the nanobots on his body. They fully shaped his forearms and hands, and Alyssa swallowed upon noticing the moderately long but pointed claws at the ends of his fingers "Does it bother you?"

It took her a few moments to realize he was referring to his overall shape, not his claws, she shook her head and smiled nervously

"No, not at all." She didn't even consider sharing the fact that she liked his shape more than would be appropriate "I'm just.. curious why you choose to look like this."

Feeling mildly uncomfortable, she briefly averted her gaze from him, but when she glanced back, she noticed his color was beginning to change. Instead of black with a hint of dark blue, he gradually transformed into a medium grey, which, in turn, continued into a silver color. Her eyes grew wider as she watched a number of details begin to materialize on his body in darker shades of grey and black, accentuating the shape of his musculature, as well as making visible several light grey veins running down his arms. It almost appeared as if he was a finely detailed greyscale painting of either a man without skin, or with virtually no fat tissue underneath his skin.

But when she felt her staring became inappropriate, she raised her gaze to his face, and her heart skipped a beat; instead of the dark blank expression she was used to, she was met with a pair of disturbingly intricate and vaguely human eyes, with small piercing grey pupils. Upon seeing the rest of his face, the words 'Rorschach pattern' were the first that came to Alyssa's mind. She had been able to tell that he lacked a nose and ears since a long time ago, not seeing any now didn't surprise her, what did surprise her, though, was the way his mouth seemed sealed shut by the pattern that made up most of his face, and a faint but disturbed frown settled on her own face when she realized she could see some of the white teeth, as the nanobots pattern didn't fully cover the skull in the cheek areas.

As she looked closer with the help of the bright light, however, she began to notice the nanites that formed his body weren't static; like miniature currents, they slowly flowed in different layers and directions, along his musculature and through the pattern on his face. It reminded Alyssa of the smooth fine sand she used to run her hands through when she went to the beach, and the temptation to touch it was present, but she didn't dare attempt it.

"Whoa…" was all Alyssa could whisper as she stared at the new appearance of the swarm in awe "Why did you never do this before?.." she asked timidly after she regained her focus

"This level of detail…" he spoke slowly as he lifted a hand, only to shake it once in a quick motion, and cause a small but considerably dense swarm of nanites to fall off of it, partially exposing the bones underneath "Requires an unsafe concentration of nanobots." Alyssa watched carefully as the falling group of nanites stopped in mid-air, then, like a video played in reverse, began flowing back into his hand, reconstructing it to full detail.

"Unsafe? Are they.. bad for you?" she asked hesitantly, aware of how unlikely that sounded

"No. But I am most efficient when the swarm is at a certain concentration, dispersed throughout a defined area. Too few nanobots in the environment, and I cannot accurately analyze it." When she opened her mouth to speak, he did so before her "And yes, I _could_ give you the precise numbers, but you wouldn't know what to do with them."

A slight pout formed on Alyssa's face upon hearing his remark, but it quickly faded and she averted her gaze from him the moment his piercing sharp pupils were aimed at her.

 _Jesus, as if he wasn't intimidating enough when he just looked like a three-dimensional shadow.._ On the plus side, she told herself that now she would be able to distinguish some expression on his face, at least when it came to his eyes.

"Fine." She tried to sound casual, and much to her luck, a song she didn't like began playing. It gave her a reason to turn her attention to the borrowed phone, she switched the music, and was slightly relieved when she peeked up and noticed the Walrider partially turned away from her.

She kept the phone up to her face, but discreetly glanced back at him, her eyes lingering on the seemingly skinless musculature of his arm, and the idea suddenly sparked in her head. It was something she wanted to know ever since she first read Billy's patient report soon after she sneaked into the asylum, but never really had the chance, nor recalled it, until now.

Biting her lip with some anticipation, she opened up a private search page and typed the word 'Walrider' in, but just before she tapped the search button, her thumb froze over it. She stared at the screen for a few seconds while the gears span in her mind, then quickly erased both the word and what little browsing history she made on the device.

 _Dammit._ Even though she was almost sure it would be safe, her paranoia refused to allow her to feel comfortable doing the search, she couldn't help thinking how it was such a peculiar word. She could have sworn she heard it before, but didn't want to take the risk of being wrong.

 _What if Murkoff made it up and only the people who worked on Project Walrider are supposed to know the word? No way, I don't trust this so-called private search._

A faint cautious frown formed on her face as she made her decision, and placed the phone next to her on the bed; despite her unwillingness to search online for the meaning of the word, she still very much wanted to know it. Her gaze returned to the Walrider as she quickly realized she could simply ask him instead. She was somewhat reluctant, but decided to get her question out before she overthought it and changed her mind

"This might sound out of the blue, but… What _does_ 'Walrider' mean anyway? I'm not sure, but I think I heard it before a long time ago, I can't remember details, and.. well call me paranoid but I don't feel safe enough to look it up on the internet. Is it something Murkoff scientists made up?"

Upon hearing her words, he turned back to her, but the slow manner in which he moved made her slightly uncomfortable

"The Walrider." He sounded almost thoughtful, he paused briefly while raising his right hand and gazing down at it "You want to know what it is?"

Alyssa watched him with a slight wary frown, then looked down at the bed when his piercing grey eyes turned to her, but she still nodded.

With the same hand, he simply flicked his index finger from under his thumb in her direction, and she instantly regretted her question and confirmation. A powerful invisible force suddenly knocked her back, her head hit the soft pillow, but her shoulders felt glued to the bed, as if something was holding her down by them

"What the heck-" she whined as she struggled in vain to squirm away "-are you doing?!"

Instinctively, she kicked her legs around and used them to push herself above the mattress, it partially worked, as only her shoulders felt pinned down, but it was enough to keep her in place. Her heart threatened to thump out of her chest even harder when she looked between her legs only to see him slowly float up and step on the bed towards her

"T-this isn't funny, please stop!" she pleaded, even though her rational mind knew that he shouldn't hurt her, she couldn't suppress the escalating fear.

She inhaled sharply when his foot landed on her knee, she could feel it, but the weight and pressure was very light, the same as when he next stepped on her hip, then stopped right on her abdomen and crouched, looking down at her. It didn't take her long to realize that her ankles and wrists were now immobilized as well, but she was too shocked to continue struggling regardless.

"The Walrider…" he started in a slow, almost casual manner, and Alyssa held back a whimper, turning her attention to his words "Is a bothersome fiend. It crawls up on sleeping humans." She could have sworn that slowly but surely, she could feel his weight on her increasing "It spawns nightmares in their mind, it settles on their chest, and presses down." At first, she considered it could have been just her imagination due to the frightening situation, but now there was no mistaking it, she was finding it noticeably difficult to draw air into her lungs, the pressure on her chest was increasing "Takes their breath away." Some panic began rising within her at the slight but slowly increasing lack of oxygen, she tried to roll away, but wasn't surprised when her efforts proved to be in vain "It compresses the rib cage, gradually, heavier and heavier…" she was, however, appreciative of the fact that at the very least, the weight on her own rib cage did not further increase, but her inability to breathe freely still upset her "Until the crushing weight awakens the asphyxiating, terrified human."

She only looked up at him pleadingly and raised her voice "Stop!"

With surprising speed, he swiftly hopped off her torso, placing his knees on the bed at the sides of her hips, without touching her. The moment he did so, all the pressure around Alyssa's chest vanished, and she took in a deep inhale and exhale. Her hand rushed to her chest over her heavily thumping heart, not fully aware of the fact that she could now move freely.

"Of course, all of that is mere human mythology." He spoke in the same casual manner while Alyssa dared to aim her frown at him, still catching her breath, but more out of anxiety than actual, significant lack of oxygen "An early superstitious tale created as an explanation for the real phenomena of sleep paralysis and apnea."

She carefully began pulling her legs from under him, until he abruptly stood up and floated off the bed, towards the window

"That demonstration was.. really not necessary.." she spoke as her breath returned to normal and pushed herself up, supporting her upper body on her elbow. The light in the room grew noticeably dimmer as a larger, medium grey cloud blocked the sun rays, but the lack of brightness only felt more comfortable to Alyssa's eyes "So.. that's what it was. I knew I read it somewhere.. some sort of horror story website.." her voice was barely above a whisper, and she mostly mumbled to herself, thinking out loud.

After a rather long pause, she pushed herself up further to sit on the bed and loosely crossed her legs yoga style. Just a few moments later, she quietly but frantically brought them back together tightly and moved over to the edge of the bed when she recalled that she wasn't wearing anything underneath the bathrobe, but much to her relief, he wasn't facing her.

"Mythological creature.. so if you're not it, then, what? What's your real name?" she asked somewhat reluctantly and returned her gaze to him.

The Walrider glanced back at her over his shoulder slowly "Which name, human?" he stepped to the window in an almost lazy manner, then sat on the floor as before, leaning his back against the glass "They typically give us one per each life…"

A small puzzled frown set on Alyssa's face upon hearing his words, she paused briefly and scooted closer to the foot of the bed to see him

"What.. do you mean? Have you had, like, more than one life or something?.."

"Far more than I can remember here." He spoke matter-of-factly, then noticed the bewildered and almost shocked expression on his host's face. His shoulders rose slightly then dropped, as in a sighing motion "So humans here don't even know that.." his words were more of a realization to himself than a comment towards her.

When Alyssa recollected herself, she sounded almost excited "No, no! I-I know about that, some of us do, it's uh, like a religion, some people believe in that, but holy shit, I never thought it was real!" she tried to keep her mouth closed as her mind raced with all the bizarre beliefs she used to read about, mostly in Eastern philosophy.

"Hn. What did you think, then?" he asked with rather faux interest

His question gave Alyssa pause, her gaze dropped to the floor as she recalled past memories "I don't really know, honestly… My mom is a Catholic, we used to go to church when I was little. They kept saying that once we die, if we love God, we're gonna go to a nice place called Heaven and live there in peace with everyone forever." An almost nostalgic sigh left her, followed by a mostly unamused faint smirk "I know it's rich coming from me, given the situation we're in, but living in peace and quiet forever and ever sounds… damn boring to me."

"So your faith does not lie there." It was more of a statement than a question, and Alyssa nodded

"Afraid not."

The swarm shrugged, then leaned his head back slightly until it hit the glass "It doesn't matter."

The fact that he sounded like that was all he was willing to say on the subject almost riled up Alyssa, she raised her voice a few hairs and scooted rather quickly to the edge of the bed

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?! Maybe it doesn't matter to you because you've been through it, but it's one of the biggest questions humanity ever asked since we grew the brain for it! I mean.. how does it even work? We just die and come back as someone else? How, why?"

It disheartened her that she could tell from his body language that he didn't seem in the mood to talk, but she waited patiently for an answer. After a rather long and tense pause on her part, he finally spoke, almost startling her

"Consciousness never dies, human… It exists in three dimensions at the least, simultaneously." He started, but Alyssa interrupted somewhat impulsively

"What, we exist in 2d space too?" she asked with a puzzled frown, then quickly silenced herself and looked away when he aimed his piercing grey eyes at her

"No… the third, fourth and fifth dimension. Once your body dies, your consciousness ceases to exist in the third, you depart from this realm, then, eventually, choose another life to be born into."

She slightly cocked her head to the side curiously "What are those like? The others, the fourth and fifth? Where are they?" It almost amused him that she briefly glanced around, as if trying to see them

"Typically brighter than the third. But there are multiple… levels, I suppose, for lack of a better term. They are all right here, they exist everywhere, always, but you cannot access them in your current state." The puzzled frown returned to her face, and he continued before she could ask for details "They are separated through vibrational frequency. Only your consciousness can access them, once it changes its frequency sufficiently, like during the time when you dream, or even further, after death."

"When.. we dream? How is dreaming related to dying?"

"They share the similarity of shifting frequency, thus shifting realms. With the exception, of course, that your consciousness cannot shift back to this realm if your flesh body is dead. It can only observe from other dimensions, without the ability of direct interaction."

Alyssa's gaze dropped to the floor but stared at nothing in particular, her mind instead raced with the new influx of surreal information "This is already starting to be too much for me, but.. What exactly do you mean with frequency, how does that relate to dimensions?" she sounded like she genuinely didn't have a clue, which slightly surprised the swarm, but he decided to explain to get it over with

"Do you know what an atom is?"

She felt tempted to cross her arms, but refrained from it "Yes.. I'm not an idiot."

"Atoms are virtually entirely empty space. The only reason a cluster of atoms creates the illusion of solidity is due to the fact that its electrons are repulsed by other electrons, thus, they will never touch, they will never allow matter to pass through matter."

He paused for just a second, and Alyssa's mouth spoke without her "I don't really see how this answers-"

"Be quiet!"

She physically flinched when he suddenly raised his voice and sounded rather annoyed; she mumbled a barely audible "Sorry" and remained silent

"The only seemingly solid elements of an atom are in actuality made of a vibrational frequency, a very low, dense frequency, at that, this dense vibration produces the illusion of solidity rather efficiently. Each realm's atoms vibrate at a specific different frequency, making them unable to be seen or interacted with unless that frequency is matched, and that is how they are separated from each other." He was not at all surprised to see that the bewildered expression returned to her face, but said nothing else, it had been bothersome enough to explain, even in the shortest way possible, what to him was basic reality.

Alyssa slowly ran her hand down her face, then quietly walked to the bathroom. When she returned, she sat on the bench at the end of the bed, crossing one leg over the other, and looked in the distance through the window

"I'm not going to pretend I can fully comprehend all that… But thank you for telling me. Still, what about you? You said before you got here you were in a dark place?"

His hesitation to speak made her wonder if she had accidentally asked for details on something personal, but he answered a few longs seconds later

"As I mentioned before, there are multiple levels. Countless, in fact. As with all the others, they are separated through frequency, the lower the frequency, the darker the realm, and the darker the souls lurking through it…"

Alyssa already didn't like where he was going, but didn't interrupt him

"Perhaps you wonder, but no, it was not Hell, I do not come from Hell, unlike what the superstitious Germans liked to rave."

Upon hearing those words, a breath of relief left her that she wasn't aware she was holding, even though he had told her that before, she still found it a comforting reminder

"I have not lived in flesh in over.. what would be fifty thousand years on this planet."

Alyssa's jaw dropped slightly and a frown of disbelief formed on her face at that "Wh.. wow.. May I ask why not?" she asked with some caution, but he shrugged lightly, and sounded almost nostalgic

"I grew tired of it. I kept.. remembering. Death, birth, death, birth, countless families, countless tragedies, I was sick of it, so I decided to resign myself to the life between lives for a long time. But as the millennia passed, I.. strayed. Farther and farther, I was drawn to the darkness, the realms below." she only watched him, her expression turning rather cautious as she listened "I haunted those realms until I saw _that_ light, and I already told you what happened from then onwards."

A long sigh left Alyssa, she rested her chin in her hand and her elbow over her knee, remaining thoughtfully silent for a few moments "Do you remember anything else between that light and waking up here?.."

"I.. thought about it. There was nothing else. Not a single clue."

His words conjured up a faint but noticeable sense of sadness in her, she swallowed and her voice came almost as a whisper "We have to find Wernicke.." She looked through the glass down at the street level, her gaze slowly rising towards the horizon, it was obvious how massive just the city alone was, and it was only one city, in one state, in one country, on the entire planet. It was easy to understand why the Walrider didn't have high hopes of finding the old scientist. She allowed her eyelids to drop, trying to calm her mind racing with the arrival of all the new bizarre information, then flinched upon hearing the swarm's dark gravelly chuckle

"I suppose it is funny… When we are alive we do our best to avoid death. And now I cannot have it."

Alyssa bit her lip lightly "You.. want to die?" she asked with some disbelief in her tone

"What I want is answers." He sounded mildly irate, she nodded quickly and tried to lighten the atmosphere

"We'll find the bastard and squeeze all the answers out of him. Gently. I mean, a light breeze could probably do him in, we have to be careful."

"I don't _do_ 'gentle', human."

She tried to make her recoil not noticeable, but remained thoughtfully silent for a long minute. Her gaze drifted towards the TV screen, she considered grabbing the remote and flipping to a news channel, but she doubted there already were any new developments in the asylum trial.

Scooting back on the bed, she grabbed the phone and tried to find a more cheerful song, her fingers tapped and scrolled the screen in search at first, but her mind quickly began returning to the things they discussed, and the stranger's phone in her hand roused a thought in her. Even though it was important to her, she felt reluctant to bring it up, due to all her inexplicable feelings associated with it, but she insisted to herself it was something she needed to speak out. After another minute of mental debate, she finally convinced herself to break the silence

"Could any of this explain anything about my freak outs?" she felt just a tinge of anxiety when he turned his head towards her

"How many times must I repeat this? I cannot read your mind, explain yourself."

Alyssa swallowed and took a deep breath, not looking forward to spilling it all out, but pushed herself to speak, in the hopes of receiving some much needed answers

"Alright, look.. I consider myself a very cautious person. I know, I know, that's rich coming from someone who snuck into an asylum for the criminally insane, but I felt I had no choice, and it took me a very long time to convince myself to do it. But I digress…" she paused briefly and cleared her throat, but it was mostly to mentally motivate herself to continue "I'm actually rather paranoid, sometimes to an unhealthy extent, I usually thoroughly think something over repeatedly before I make an important decision and like to be prepared and cautious. Obviously that's something I can't always afford while I'm on the run with few resources, but my point is.. I don't put myself in dangerous situations without a logical reason or as a last resort." She exhaled deeply, feeling more than a little uncomfortable "And yet I've done some very impulsive dangerous things lately, driven by.. by emotions and urges I don't understand and never felt before in my life."

She was taken aback when he suddenly spoke, his tone sounded amused, even almost playful, but his gruff voice made it seem more intimidating

"Such as?.."

Alyssa raised her feet up and hugged her knees to her chest "Such as getting out of my safe warm car and out into a storm and running to where a car crashed with armed people who tried to murder me just minutes before, instead of waiting or driving away.." she shook her head lightly and allowed her eyelids to droop "It only happens when you're away.. It makes me feel very.. unsafe. And I feel compelled to.. find you." Her discomfort was somewhat interrupted by his quick answer

"Naturally. Murkoff may not know exactly who you are, but they still want my host's head, I'm the only one who can prevent that."

But she shook her head "No, I-I mean yes, that's true, but.. it's not the only reason." She took another deep breath and pushed herself to speak "I don't understand it, but it's like.. a deeper connection?" She hesitantly glanced at him when she received no response, but he still said nothing, so she questioned, still uneasy "Do you know anything about it? Why is it happening to me?"

The Walrider shrugged lightly "Who knows…" his tone seemed rather tired, it discouraged Alyssa from wanting to continue the already uncomfortable topic, then almost choked on her own saliva when he finished "Perhaps we were lovers in a past life."

She coughed a few times and cleared her throat, she turned her head to the side just in case the warmth in her cheeks was visible, but didn't want more awkward silence, so she quickly asked

"W-what are the chances of _that_?"

The swarm paused thoughtfully and spoke casually "Countless souls, living countless lives, in countless worlds… What do you think?"

Alyssa slowly turned to look out through the window, the gears in her mind span in an attempt to comprehend the potential infinity, but she soon gave up "That's.. but.." she shook her head gently "My head hurts.."

When he said nothing in response, she grabbed the TV remote and flipped through channels, mostly to distract herself. Reaching a news channel, she was slightly disappointed to see nothing related to Murkoff, but she lowered the volume and left the TV on to play in the background in the hopes that something important would eventually air.

As the day passed almost painfully slowly, Lisa suggested they all go out to dinner, but Waylon decided it was unnecessarily risky to leave the hotel again and roam the city around CCTV cameras, so they all had dinner in their rooms. Alyssa checked her phone for what felt like the fiftieth time, but found no messages from the car body shop; ironically, it was the borrowed phone that kept receiving messages and a few calls that she ignored

"Think it's time we return this." She said after wiping her fingerprints from the stranger's smartphone when it was getting late, and slightly flinched when the device suddenly floated out of her hand. It glided towards the door, followed by the Walrider, whose form dissipated into a grey cloud, and flowed underneath the door, then turned increasingly less visible as it scattered in the air of the hallway.

Alyssa waited with just a tinge of nervousness, it was far easier when she knew that he left and that he was going to come back within a few minutes, she stepped over to the bed, and the fear of gruesome nightmares returned almost immediately. A soft tired sigh left her, she wished the swarm wouldn't sit on the floor the entire night again, since she wanted to keep the nightmares at bay again, but did not look forward to waking up stiff in the morning as before.

When he returned, he reshaped his previous form, but much to her chagrin, he did sit in the same spot as last night. A random and rather daring thought surfaced in her mind, for a moment she considered asking him to sit on the bed with her, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Once she made sure everything was ready for tomorrow, she slowly picked up a large pillow from the bed, and walked over to the window. The Walrider glanced over at her, but neither of them said anything, she placed the pillow on the floor, partly leaning it on the window, then slowly laid down and rested her head on it. A small groan left her at the feeling of the hard floor under her, but she couldn't complain, it was far better than a soft bed from which she would wake up screaming and crying after another round of unbearable nightmares.

This time around, it wasn't as easy to fall asleep, partly due to the fact that she hadn't woken up too early, and it wasn't too late at night, but mostly thanks to the unpleasant feeling of the rigid floor against her ribs. A few mumbled cusses escaped her, she tossed and turned for over twenty minutes, only wishing she would fall asleep so they could leave the city in the morning. After what to her felt like a long, irritating hour of trying to be comfortable, she decided to simply stop moving in the hopes that sleep would finally take her. Eventually, her wish was granted, and she fell into mentally peaceful but physically harsh sleep.

The Walrider gazed down at her with a sliver of pity; at least compared to the life she was used to, she had been through hell for the past days, and he had a strong suspicion that things were going to get much worse before they got better, but she couldn't even get a good night's sleep.

He thought back to what she squirmed so much trying to explain to him, and admittedly, she did feel different from previous hosts, but he had no clue why, and he didn't bother attempting to figure it out. He told himself it could be a myriad of reasons, the human brain was extremely complex by itself, introduce alien elements like the symbiotic relation between one consciousness contained within a flesh body and an unconfined one, and bizarre symptoms that could differ case by case shouldn't be a surprise.

A couple hours later, he decided to haunt around in the hotel, on the off chance that he might come across any potential threat, but mostly out of a lack of occupation. When he returned, he found his host sleeping in the same awkward position on the rigid cold floor, her sleep was deeper than before, but apart from that, nothing else had changed.

After a few seconds of consideration, he floated over to her and carefully sneaked his arms under her knees and her back; when he lifted her up, he could barely feel any weight, but it didn't surprise him, considering the fact that tossing around the giant Chris Walker had felt like throwing a ragdoll to him.

He slowly floated over to the bed and placed her on the blanket, but he didn't forget the way she woke up terrified the previous night. It was rare for him to feel indecisive, he glanced down at her peacefully sleeping body, not looking forward to when she would wake up screaming and crying after another bout of nightmares, and finally gave in.

Without disturbing a hair, he silently hopped on the bed and laid down next to her. The mattress was fitting for an average human, but his feet hung off the end of it, not that it bothered him, he placed his hands under his head and, with nothing else left to do, simply began waiting the night out.

It was odd in a way, being held captive ever since he set foot into this world made him become patient, but only selectively so, he found it rather easy to wait for long periods of time, yet he was quite impatient when it came to dealing with humans.

Alyssa remained asleep, but grew noticeably comfortable on the soft mattress, as the time passed, she occasionally tossed and turned over on the blanket, without fully waking up.

A few hours before sunrise, she slightly surprised him when she rolled into him in her sleep, her knee landed over his thigh, while her face and arm rested against his chest. He gazed down at her in mild curiosity, but he hadn't moved since he laid down, and found no real reason to move now. Even more so, a thought crossed his mind, perhaps it would be amusing to witness her reaction to what she had unconsciously done herself after she woke up.

The night sky was mostly cloudy, and remained relatively unchanged after the sun rose. When Alyssa's sleep grew lighter, she became aware of the soft mattress she was laying on, but especially so of the velvety feeling on her face. Partially asleep, she very slowly moved her head side to side in order to rub her cheek against the silky sensation, then, when her finger twitched, she realized it was present under her fingertips as well.

Still barely conscious but craving the velvety feeling, her hand began moving ahead slowly, and a soft sigh of content left her. She lazily dragged her fingers downwards, then a curious thought rose in her mind when passing over a rectangular bump, but she was too unaware to register anything other than the luscious silky sensation. Only when her hand traced over two more similar rigid bumps did she start putting the pieces together as her mind began waking up.

From that point onwards, it didn't take her long to remember and realize where she was, and especially what she had just done. Not only did the understanding come rather gradually, but she was also too deeply physically relaxed to suddenly jump away. Instead of panicking, she quickly froze in tension for a few seconds, then somewhat relaxed, but her heart continued to thump heavily against her chest. She cautiously retreated her slightly quivering hand and opened one eye warily, but felt very reluctant to look up at him. He wasn't surprised at all of the first word that came out of her mouth

"Sorry.." it was barely audible, and it was easy to tell how embarrassed she was both from her rosy cheeks and by the tone of her voice.


	26. Chapter 26

It was a figurative life saver when her phone abruptly began ringing, it made her lightly jump, but it was a good reason to quickly scoot away from him.

Without a moment wasted, she crawled out of bed and grabbed the ringing phone. Much to her relief, it was good news, she was informed that the car was fully repaired and was waiting for her to pick it up.

Too embarrassed to even look at the Walrider, she quietly but rather hurriedly took her new clothes to the bathroom, changed into them, and put her old clothes into the backpack. While everything else was comfortable, especially the shoes, the pants were tighter than she would've preferred, but she squeezed into them without much issues. When she reached for the black bandanna, she hesitated for a moment, then loosely tied it around her neck, so that she could simply and swiftly lift it with one hand in case she needed to put it on. She considered placing the hood over her head, but failed to find a good reason for the time being, and applied some of the new makeup she bought instead.

Stepping outside the bathroom and making sure she didn't forget anything, she put her backpack on, then took one last look outside the window at the city below. As she turned and walked towards the door, it made her slightly uneasy that the Walrider still hadn't left the bed, but she made her way out and down the hallway to the Parks' room.

After knocking on their door for several seconds, Lisa opened up with a sleepy look on her face, the woman's hair was a dark blonde now, and she told her to come in, but Alyssa took a step back

"No need, I just wanted to let you guys know I'll go pick up the car, just got the call that it's ready. Can you meet me in the parking lot?"

A more serious expression set on the woman's face, she nodded and began closing the door "We'll be there."

As she turned away, Alyssa pulled the phone out of her pocket to check the time, it was fairly early in the morning, it was unlikely that the others had breakfast yet, and she decided it was best to not spend more time in the city, they would have to eat on the road.

After placing the phone back in her pocket, she rose her gaze to look forward, and was very close to freezing in her tracks upon seeing the figure ahead, but she realized it would look too suspicious, so she pushed herself to keep walking.

On the side of the hallway stood a moderately tall man, but while his appearance wasn't very out of the ordinary, it still made her guard go up. The man wore black sneakers and pants, along with a dark grey jacket whose hood was over his head, he stood with his hands in his pockets, but what unsettled her the most was the fact that she couldn't see his face due to the dark balaclava over it. When she approached, she tried to seem calm and casual, despite the fact that her heartbeat had noticeably increased, she couldn't resist throwing a quick discreet glance at him, and realized that even his eyes weren't visible, as they were behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

What made her nerves edge more, was the fact that he stood too close to her hotel room, she wanted to go back inside to the Walrider and tell him there was a suspicious looking person standing right outside their door, but now she felt reluctant. As she approached the door, however, a small group of people stepped out of the elevator at the end of the hallway straight ahead, which made Alyssa feel safer, she told herself that if this person had nefarious intentions, he wouldn't attempt anything in plain view of multiple people, so she decided to walk past him and go back to her room.

Trying to seem casual, she kept on the other side of the hallway, but then really froze in her tracks when she heard the Walrider's voice

"You appear painfully nervous, human." The fact that it came from the hooded man made her jaw slightly drop, she turned to him with a puzzled frown and he spoke again "Let's go."

A huge wave of relief overcame Alyssa, so much so that her previously tense legs felt like jelly for a brief moment, she exhaled deeply and placed her hand over her thumping heart while she stepped over to him

"Do you have any idea…" she started, but he turned and began walking towards the elevator. Alyssa followed him, she remained closely behind, but couldn't help feeling slightly nervous as they approached the group of people ahead.

A couple people glanced at him with a hint of precaution, but they calmly continued their conversation as they walked past each other and they stepped inside the elevator. She pressed the ground floor button, and as the cabin descended, she took the time to have a better look at the Walrider's disguise. It quickly clicked in her mind that it made sense, there was no color other than black and shades of grey on him, and not a single inch of what would be skin was visible, since the nanites lacked the ability to mimic any normal skin color.

As she waited, her mind rather quickly returned to the earlier morning events; her gaze discreetly turned to him, and she admitted to herself that as embarrassing as that was, she couldn't help wondering how much better that velvety sensation would feel on her nude body. But when she felt her cheeks grow warm again at the rather intrusive thought, she immediately did her best to block it, and spoke up mostly to distract herself

"Why?"

The Walrider's hood partially turned towards her, she didn't need to be more specific "Without a car, my trust in Park's ability to protect you is even lower."

Alyssa said nothing, but she had to admit, she felt more comfortable with him in a human form instead of dispersed into an invisible swarm. While he did look slightly suspicious and intimidating, being accompanied by a normal looking polite young woman lessened the potentially negative image he was displaying.

Once they reached the ground floor, they walked out the hotel and took a taxi over to the vehicle body shop. They exchanged a few words, but Alyssa decided it was better to remain quiet after she noticed the driver's reaction to the almost inhuman voice of the already unfriendly-looking man on the backseat next to her.

To her relief, the taxi had a GPS, and the driver was able to easily locate the body shop that she and Waylon spent far too much time searching for. She leaned back in her seat and waited, slightly impatient to reach the destination and retrieve her vehicle so they could leave the city. The license plate matter returned to her mind, but she recalled that it wasn't supposed to be an issue, and chose to concern herself with it when it was necessary. For the time being, she only wanted to relax.

As her gaze casually turned to the Walrider and noticed his hands still in his pockets, a random thought rose in her, she wondered if he had the same grey or black clawed hands, or something else. It was of little importance, but with not much else to do, she slowly convinced herself to check that for herself.

Hesitantly, she gradually moved her hand towards his, while partially keeping her eyes ahead; she reached into his pocket, and swallowed when her fingers made contact with the silky material, it instantly reminded her of the earlier morning, but she quickly pushed the embarrassing memory away. Very gently, she pulled his hand out of his pocket, then tensed up when his hood turned towards her, but she tried to make it as obvious as possible that she was merely curious.

When she looked down at his hand, she noticed he was wearing what looked like leather gloves, the material felt slightly harder at the touch than his jacket, but it was similarly velvety. For the moment, he indulged her, he kept his hand relaxed in hers, and after she was content, she let it go and returned hers to her lap.

 **_Craving contact today, it seems._ **

Her eyes shot wide open when she heard the words in her head, she briefly glanced at him then shook her head and hurriedly whispered

"I was just checking something.."

She turned away and looked out the window, mostly just in case the rising heat in her cheeks was visible, but just a few moments later, she felt his hand on her thigh, slowly beginning to move upwards.

Almost reflexively, she jumped and scooted away, closer to the car door, doing her best to remain discreet, then leaned down so she was partly hidden behind the passenger seat, out of sight of the driver, whose attention was drawn by the sudden movement

"I-I was sleeping that time!.." she whispered nervously, but refused to look at the swarm.

"Is.. everything alright, miss?" the taxi driver suddenly asked, and Alyssa tried to appear calm and casual as she leaned back in her seat. It was easy to tell the man was somewhat concerned due to the mix of her behavior and the appearance of her companion, she figured he could've thought she was being kidnapped or harassed or something of the like.

"Yes sir, everything's fine." She spoke quickly with a faux smile, before the Walrider said something rude or threatening that would raise the man's alarms further.

After they reached the body shop, Alyssa was glad to see the repaired, perfect state of her car. While the price wasn't outrageous, it was still relatively high, but she couldn't complain, it was far better than the risk of driving around in a damaged vehicle.

A sigh of content left her once she sat in the driver seat, it almost felt like home, it was familiarity, something she had been severely lacking for the past several days. She began the drive back to the hotel, but remained quiet, still feeling somewhat awkward and embarrassed from the earlier events. Sneaking a peek to her right, she noticed the swarm sat leaned back in the passenger seat, with his arms crossed over his chest. It made her wonder if he was upset, at her reactions or anything else, but she recalled that whenever he was irate, she could practically feel the danger in the atmosphere, and this time it wasn't the case, she could sense nothing.

She made an effort to stay fully focused on the road, but it proved challenging, she couldn't help being somewhat afraid that she accidentally gave him some wrong signals while being half-asleep that morning. What worried her more, was the possibility that the signals weren't so wrong after all, but the thought made her too uncomfortable, she did her best to dismiss it and distract herself.

Once she realized they were going to arrive at their destination soon, she decided to break the silence, and a small idea struck her

"So.. how about them license plates, Wally?"

As soon as she got the last word out, her shoulders slightly rose with some apprehension; from the corner of her eye, she could notice him turning his head to her, and he spoke after what felt like a few painfully long and tense seconds

"What was _that_?" he sounded only mildly irate, and Alyssa forced a smile

"What? You wanna be undercover, can't call you by the name of some mythical fiend in public."

She grew more relaxed when she noticed he uncrossed his arms and turned to look ahead

"The plates will not pose a problem."

She nodded, and quietly continued the ride to the parking lot, hoping that the rest of the crew was already there. Once at the destination, she carefully drove underground, and after a brief search, she was pleased to see the family at the other end of the interior. The light was moderately dim, but she could recognize them, she honked the horn once to attract their attention, then began stepping out of the car. The group started approaching once they spotted the car and got the signal, but Alyssa noticed they visibly hesitated to continue walking once her companion got out of the car as well, so she waved at them to continue, then stepped over to the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk.

"Alyssa?" Waylon asked with some caution as they approached, and she signaled with her hand towards the car

"Get in, I'll be just a minute."

Once the Walrider stepped away, they reluctantly complied and boarded the vehicle. Lisa looked out the window, trying to see what the other woman was doing behind the door of the trunk, she opened her mouth to speak, but then quickly turned to look ahead when she heard a metallic popping sound.

The hooded stranger stood up from the front of the car, holding the detached license plate. No one said anything as he walked towards the trunk, they only watched suspiciously, shifting their gaze from the man to the environment, checking for any unwanted attention, but to their luck, the parking lot level was virtually empty at the time.

"What numbers do you want?" The Walrider asked as he tossed the plate into the open trunk, while Alyssa remained crouched down, attempting to use a screwdriver on the screws holding the rear plate, but didn't seem to be doing a very good job at it, as the tiny metal pieces kept spinning without retracting

"Ugh, give me a minute.." she mostly mumbled while she continued fiddling with the tool, her frustration rather quickly rising "Just anything, it doesn't matter! As long as it's not.. F-K M-R-K-F or something that obvio-ack!" The screwdriver clinked on the ground as it slipped from her increasingly impatient hands, she quickly grabbed it and tried to reposition it over the stubborn screw, but the Walrider's patience ran empty, as he abruptly reached for the plate and roughly pulled it off then tossed it in the trunk.

Alyssa flinched, mostly due to being startled, but stood up to place the screwdriver inside as well, then slammed the trunk closed

"Okay, that works too.."

The swarm said nothing as he raised one empty hand, and within several seconds, Alyssa could distinguish a rectangular shape, that gradually formed into a license plate with a light grey background and a few random black numbers. It looked perfectly normal and believable, and she nodded, while he placed it on the car's rear, then began walking towards the front as he formed another, but a question came to her mind

"Will we have enough nanites?" she stepped over to the driver's seat, but didn't get in the car

"Yes. You are an effective little factory."

She didn't know if it was his answer or a sudden gust of cold wind that sent a few chills down her spine, but the former definitely unsettled her, she held back a shudder and shook her head

"Please, don't remind me, it's hard enough to suppress it.."

After he put the front plate in place, he looked around to make sure they weren't in view of any cameras nor people, then the nanites began falling off of him like sand as he walked towards Alyssa, who sat on the driver's seat, but kept the door open. She watched as the dark mist flowed inside the car, then slammed the door shut and put her seat belt on.

A short sigh escaped her as she placed her hands on the steering wheel, but she glanced at the others, who looked like they've seen a ghost

"Mr. Park?"

The man shook his head briefly "I'm not even gonna question it, let's get outta here."

Alyssa nodded silently and complied, but spoke up once she drove out of the parking lot and reached the street

"So which way should we take, you said we're going west?"

"Yeah, we gotta get on the highway, take a right over there."

Following the man's directions, they managed to find their way up on the highway, and Alyssa had to admit, the large number of cars driving all around them made her feel safe again, it was far better than the deserted dark country road they were on when they were ambushed.

 _Good luck pulling that off here, assholes._

Her sense of safety, however, was rattled when they reached the city outskirt and drove past a church. Before she could even attempt to prevent them, horrifying images of the asylum preacher's burning flesh invaded her mind one after the other, accompanied by the agonizing screams echoing through her head as if she was presently listening to them, she could even recall the nauseating smell of scorched skin with disturbing realism.

Squeezing her hands on the steering wheel in an effort to remain calm and keep the vehicle steady, she shut her eyes for a brief moment before she forced herself to focus her entire attention on the road, but the persistent thought remained.

 _Why did you do that to me, old man.._

Once she finally stopped suppressing it, the feeling of guilt surfaced, the man was so mentally ill that he burned himself alive, and as bad as she felt for him, she still hated that he made her watch and listen, she wished she knew if there was any reason for it other than his own mental sickness, but couldn't think of anything logical.

She drove mostly in silence, partially listening to the chattering of the others, but mostly occupied in her own mind, until she eventually decided to join in the conversation

"So.. What are you planning to do once at your other home?" she asked somewhat reluctantly, hoping to not darken the mood too much with her question

"Just.. wait and see and pray to god that this trial is gonna finally be the straw that breaks Murkoff's back. They've been in legal trouble before, but never with quality evidence like this." Waylon said, then paused for a moment as he looked out the window "Need to hire a tutor for the kids, or private school if it takes too long.." a couple of disappointed sounds came from the children in the backseat "..Find some work online.." his voice dropped to a whisper "Staying occupied won't be an issue, but staying safe could be.."

Alyssa swallowed and nodded, her imagination not lacking in frightening possibilities where they could be ambushed again, and the helicopter that flew past in the distance didn't help to put her mind at ease, but it wasn't necessarily an extraordinary sight or rational reason to raise any alarms, so she tried to keep her concerns at bay.

Nearly two hours later, Sam suddenly spoke, attracting everyone's attention

"I'm hungry."

"Honey, give him something." Waylon said casually as his wife reached for the bag of food, but the boy protested

"But mom said we were gonna have pizza yesterday! But you didn't let us.."

A discreet sigh left the man, but Alyssa smiled at the child's cute protest.

"Maybe we'll find a pizza restaurant in the next town." Lisa said, but before her husband could disagree, the young boy jumped with excitement

"Yes!"

Waylon threw a semi-serious grumpy look over his shoulder at the woman, but Alyssa interjected upon checking the fuel gauge

"Looks like we're running kinda low on gas, we're gonna have to stop by a gas station sooner or later anyway, Mr. Park."

"Alright, alright, we'll stop to refuel and for a quick lunch." Waylon gave in, but his son corrected

"Pizza lunch!"

"Right, pizza lunch." He couldn't suppress a faint smile too when he noticed the kids happily high-fiving each other.

It took over twenty minutes until they reached a small town, and after finding the gas station, they went in search for a pizza restaurant. Much to the children's delight, it wasn't long until they found one.

The restaurant's design, however, made Waylon slightly unnerved, he wasn't content with the fact that all of the few dining tables that were inside were occupied, and the rest were outside, in a pleasant looking yard with green grass and paved pathways, but out in the open nonetheless.

It didn't seem to bother anyone else, though, once they parked the car, they casually approached the restaurant. Without the windshield in the way, the sun's rays seemed noticeably brighter to Alyssa, so she pulled her jacket's hood forward over her head as much as it would go, which worked moderately well since the sun was mostly overhead.

After placing their order, they stepped outside and sat at one of the dining tables in the yard to wait for their food; several nearby tables were occupied, but they chose one far enough that they could talk without being overheard. The day was pleasant enough, sunny and warm but not overly so, and among the people's chattering and the occasional passing car, they could hear birds singing in the trees planted around the yard.

"I like this better than being stuck in a hotel room all day long." Lisa said with a smile as she took in the serene atmosphere "A fancy one, mind you, but nothing beats nature." The woman paused briefly before she spoke again, with a hint of sadness "Feels like everything is normal again."

"Don't bring _it_ up, honey. If you want it to feel normal, don't start talking about that."

Before the woman could reply, Alyssa suddenly stood up from the table "I'm gonna go to the bathroom then to refuel."

"You'll be fine by yourself?" Waylon asked as the young woman began stepping towards the restaurant.

"I'm not by myself." She stated simply and placed her hands in her jacket pockets, without looking back to see the slightly unsettled exchange of glances between the couple.

It was far busier inside the restaurant than outside, she ignored the incessant loud chattering of people at the tables that on a bad day she would find obnoxious, and made her way around a few customers over to the ladies bathroom.

She almost slammed the door behind her, and felt slightly relieved when she noticed how muffled the borderline irritating chatter became once the door was shut. It quickly became obvious that she was not in the mood to be in a loud crowd, but reminded herself that with numbers came safety.

 _More witnesses, less risk, relax._

Stepping over to the sink and mirror, she ignored the other two women in the bathroom, and checked her makeup and bandanna that she only wished looked like a mere scarf to the casual observer.

 _Tsk, scarf in the summer? Do even hipsters wear that?_ After the other women left the room, she walked into one of the stalls, hoping that she could at least do her business alone in peace, already missing the large, luxurious and private bathroom of the Denver hotel.

Just as she was done and stepped outside the stall, she flinched when the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open rather harshly, then relaxed when she recognized the hooded figure that walked inside

"Yet another delay. How delightful."

She could clearly hear the growl in the Walrider's voice, but the tension was unmistakable to her as well, he was noticeably displeased at the trip interruption.

Alyssa bit her lip lightly as she stepped to the sink and began washing her hands "We're just hungry, we'll have a quick meal and leave." She said with some unease, but quickly wished she had chosen her words better when he raised his voice

"Don't even try. The only reason we're having this hindrance is because of Park's brats."

A soft discreet exhale left her "C'mon Wally.. Don't you remember ever having kids?"

His quick answer made her do a double-take "I do. She murdered me in my sleep on her eighteenth birthday."

Alyssa's eyes widened, she turned to him with a questioning and disturbed expression, but he looked away

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" she started, but the swarm cut her off

"It doesn't matter, get moving."

She rushed to dry her hands, then stepped out of the bathroom, and had to admit, she felt more calm and relaxed when she noticed he was right behind her.

Outside, she walked past their table with a small wave and continued to the car. During the very short drive to the gas station, she caught sight of an ATM, and decided it was a good opportunity to take some cash out of her debit card. After almost stuffing her small thin wallet and finishing the drive to the gas station, she parked the car next to the pump and stepped out

"Please stay inside, gas station clerks get spooked easily, I imagine they get robbed monthly by creepy looking guys like you."

She slammed the door closed before he could say anything, and much to her relief, he didn't exit the car. Once refueled and paid, she returned to the vehicle and began making the drive back to the restaurant.

"How easy would it be…" the Walrider's gravelly voice abruptly drew her attention as he began speaking slowly "To simply drive on."

It didn't take her long to understand he was suggesting they leave the town by themselves right then and there, but Alyssa didn't even entertain the thought

"Not easy at all for me." She spoke strictly with a faint frown as her hands slightly squeezed the steering wheel.

"That is why I'm here."

Her heart skipped a beat when his hand suddenly grabbed the steering wheel over hers; even though his grip was tight, the velvety feeling was still palpable, but she shook her head

"We're not leaving, not yet." She dared to raise her voice a few hairs, and her nervousness rose more as her words caused his grip to tighten even further. It almost hurt, but what unsettled her more was the realization that he was preventing her from taking the right turn that would lead back to the restaurant.

"Wh.. Stop it!" some panic rose within her, and without the ability to turn the vehicle, she decided to hit the brakes. A deeper, concerned frown set on her face once she stomped on the pedal only to fail pushing it a single inch, it felt as if it was made of solid, immovable concrete. Even worse, the acceleration pedal went down seemingly by itself, increasing the car's speed.

"Stop it! Please! We'll leave soon, I promise." She tried to keep both her voice and heart pace down, but wasn't very successful at either.

The Walrider shook his head "Can you not understand, or do you refuse to? We are far more efficient alone."

Just as she was about to plead again, she was surprised when he suddenly retracted his hand, and full control of the vehicle was restored to her

"What a waste…" his tone was of both irritation and disappointment, but Alyssa exhaled a sigh of relief as she quickly decelerated and turned the vehicle down the road back to the restaurant. She gradually relaxed, but said nothing else, trying to deal with the mix of emotions within her.

As much as she appreciated the Walrider's protection, she couldn't help wishing he would stop insisting they leave the family behind, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were in this together and it was best to stick together and watch each other's backs, but, understanding how unlikely it was that he would agree with her, she decided to stop worrying about it for the time being.

Once parked at the destination, she was slightly startled when she glanced over in the passenger seat and realized the Walrider had vanished without her even noticing, but she left the car and walked over to the table.

"Oh, nice timing, food's almost here. You.. okay?" Waylon said upon noticing the lingering unsettled expression on Alyssa's face, but she nodded

"I'm fine.."

Trying to appear casual, she took a seat and waited, but she quickly grew too preoccupied with her own thoughts to join in the conversation of the others. Throwing a discreet glance at the family, she contemplated why the Walrider didn't continue to insist they drive away, she figured it really would have been easy, all he needed to do was maintain the control he had over the car, and there was nothing she could've done apart from continuing to whine and plead in vain.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a crying baby, she looked in the direction of the sound to see a young woman pushing a stroller to a nearby table, accompanied by a young man. She didn't have the time to grow mildly irritated at the wailing, as a waitress walked up to their table with a few plates of hot pizza.

Halfway through her meal, however, a man sitting nearby, reading a newspaper, drew Alyssa's attention. On the newspaper, she could read part of an article title, but because of the angle and the man's hand, she couldn't read the whole text.

 _Murkoff ex.. exec? Dammit, move that finger.._

She tried to remain subtle as she leaned in slightly and squinted in an attempt to read the headline, but it was futile. It frustrated her, and her heart thumped a hint faster in apprehension, it was news about Murkoff, she needed to know exactly what it was about. When an idea struck her, she began looking around, and much to her delight, it wasn't long until she spotted a newspaper stand not too far away on a sidewalk near an intersection.

Grabbing a slice of pizza and standing up, she spoke before anyone questioned her "I'll be right back, need to buy a newspaper."

Rather hurriedly, she made her way to the stand as she ate, and began browsing for the same one the man at the restaurant was reading, but upon finding it, she was slightly disappointed to not see the same title on the front page. Figuring that it must've been on another page, she paid for the item then began stepping away with it while flipping the pages in an attempt to find the important article.

As she kept walking back to the restaurant yard, she tried to share her focus between where she was going to avoid traffic, and searching for the article in question, but most of it was on the latter.

When she finally found it, she was meters away from the Parks at the table, but she stopped in her tracks as she began reading.

 _Murkoff executive Anthony Harris declares his departure from the corporation: the sixty year old claimed his retirement is unrelated to the currently ongoing Murkoff trial on the Mount Massive Asylum incident[…]_

* * *

Unfortunately for the mission objective, there weren't any tall buildings in the vicinity of the targets, so the roof of a store had to suffice. The location was picked precisely so the assassin would have a clear, unobstructed view, while the manhole in the alley right behind the store remained open, so he could make a quick escape after the job was done.

Watching through his binoculars, he identified the Park family sitting at the restaurant table, and as expected, they were accompanied by an unknown young woman, but because of the angle and the hood, her face was mostly hidden. It was of little importance, however, his orders were clear: even though Waylon Park had to be eliminated for his whistleblowing, the host of the swarm was the main target, it didn't matter who exactly the person was, only that they were traveling with the Parks, and their death took urgent priority. It didn't really matter to him what a host and swarm were either, he only had one job to do.

The rocket launcher disguised in a guitar case had been completely undetectable until then, but once it fired, it would unleash chaos and certain death, albeit on a smaller radius, due to its relatively small size and stealth modifications. It was as planned, collateral damage was acceptable since ideally both targets would be eliminated, and with a sniper rifle, the risk was too high that one of them would get away after the first shot was fired, his superiors had advised the use of an explosion, even in public, was the safest way to successfully take out both targets at the same time.

Just as he began preparing the rocket launcher, he noticed the woman started walking away from the family. It was a bad sign, and the parking lot was not viewable from his position in case she was heading for a vehicle, but it was already too late to fire. Once the main target disappeared behind a building, he returned his sights on the Parks as he finished preparing the weapon, ready to fire if they would begin departing as well. It wouldn't have been ideal, since the whistleblower was second priority, but it was definitely better than losing both targets. Occasionally, he shifted his gaze through the binoculars around the streets in the vicinity, and fortunately for the mission, the host woman reappeared after a short period of time, beginning to walk back towards the restaurant table where the Parks were.

Even though she seemed distracted by the newspaper in her hands, he anticipated the perfect scenario would ensue where she would sit with the others, and he could simply fire one rocket that would surely terminate both targets then be done with it.

Much to the assassin's displeasure, however, the target eventually stopped walking, she was close to the table where the family sat, but just not close enough to launch a double lethal shot, even if he aimed it at the ground precisely between the two targets.

The woman remained in place, seemingly absorbed in her reading, then his attention was drawn to Waylon Park when he casually raised his arm at her. Because of the distance, he couldn't hear what the man said, he waited a minute longer, but when the whistleblower suddenly stood up, it appeared as if his wife was going to follow him, it seemed that they were about to leave. There was no guarantee that the two targets would regroup, especially before they would walk out of sight for a clear deadly shot, so he had to act quick, having to choose between hoping that they would step close enough to each other very soon, or eliminating the top priority target.

It hadn't been a difficult decision for him, swiftly but precisely taking aim, he pressed the trigger, and was slightly thrown back by the recoil as the rocket launched out of the disguised weapon, flying straight towards the woman.

* * *

Alyssa's focus on the article was interrupted when she began hearing it. Within milliseconds, a faint distant roaring grew increasingly loud, she lowered the newspaper to look in the direction where the sound was coming from, and she barely even had the time to start panicking when she saw the relatively small but extremely fast object flying towards her, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind.

Her eyes shot open and her heart almost froze, the first thought that went through her mind was to somehow get out of the way, but it was already too late to run. The only thing she could think of doing was drop to the ground and pray she could move quickly enough to make it out alive.

Just as she began trying to drop down, she heard the alarmed voice in her mind.

 **_Alyssa!_ **

Immediately, she was roughly pushed to the ground by an invisible force much faster than she would have been able to lower herself, she barely had enough time to reflexively place one arm in front of her head so it wouldn't smack on the concrete, and the other over her head.

A second later, she could feel the force and roar of the rocket as it flew past her, mere feet above where her body was laying prone. Much to her horror, the roar didn't continue distancing and fading as it flew further and further away, instead, an ear-piercing explosion erupted almost immediately. She squirmed in shock and some pain when she felt the force of the explosion, she couldn't even tell if she was hurt badly, but after her ears stopped ringing, she became able to hear the chaos around. The screaming and panic of people frantically running away, however, was almost drowned by the extremely loud wailing of a baby, and when she raised her head to look around, the first thing she saw took her breath away.

Several meters away, sitting on his knees, was the man she previously saw with the woman and baby, heavily covered in blood and a few red fleshy pieces that she couldn't identify. The man, whose expression was of utter shock and horrified disbelief, was looking down in front of him, and when Alyssa followed his gaze, she could distinguish a heavily damaged arm, with a blood-stained sleeve still partially attached to it, which looked like part of the dress that the woman was wearing seconds ago.

Her wide eyes turned a few feet to the man's right, where the stroller was laying on its side, and Alyssa could see a tiny arm wiggling in distress, while the sound of the baby's wailing nearly overpowered all others and kept echoing in her head. From inside the stroller, she could see a thin stream of blood slowly extending towards the other large pool surrounding the man, which, after some of the shock wore off, he frantically crawled to the stroller and shouted something Alyssa couldn't hear in the loud chaos. The sight inside the stroller, even though she couldn't see it herself, made the man's blood-stained face go almost entirely white on the spot as the most terrified expression she'd ever seen had set on his face.

"Sam!" Lisa's sudden panicked voice drew her attention, and she was further pushed to move by the voice in her head.

 **_Get up, get to cover!_ **

As some of her own shock wore off, she quickly scrambled to her feet and immediately heard Waylon's shout "Come on!" signaling at her while his wife grabbed both their children's hands and began running away.

Following behind the family as fast as she could, they took cover behind the restaurant; Lisa crouched down to Sam in a panic, whose arm and cheek were bleeding and who couldn't keep himself from crying.

"I can't believe this! Is everyone alrigh-oh my god, how bad is it?" Waylon said with concern when he noticed the young boy's bleeding.

"I don't know but we have to go to the hospital right now!" the woman nearly shouted as she pulled some tissues out of her purse and began attempting to wipe and bandage her son's arm.

Alyssa tried to calm her frantic heart, and dared to look behind the corner of the building in the direction where the rocket came from, but saw nothing

"Is it even safe to move?"

"Get to the car, now!" Lisa said as she picked up the boy and Waylon took the older son's hand as they began making their way to the parking lot behind the restaurant with their nerves on edge.

 _Did this really just happen, this is fucking insane!_

Alyssa hesitantly followed, she couldn't help the fear of another incoming rocket, and if it was aimed carefully at the car, the explosion would be far bigger and deadlier. Still, she told herself that the police were likely already on their way, and the shooter would've most probably attempted to make a getaway by then unless he wanted to spend a lifetime in prison.

With their hearts threatening to beat out of their chests, they got in the car as quickly as they could and Alyssa drove to the nearest hospital as safely as possible in the fear and panic.

Lisa took Sam directly to the emergency room, but much to everyone's relief, it turned out to be nothing serious. The boy's wounds were treated and bandaged, and in less than half an hour they were ready to leave. Still in the hospital, the mother was relieved, but judging from her body language, expression, and tone of voice, Alyssa could tell she remained rather upset.

"We need to talk." Lisa said sternly, and everyone followed her outside the hospital, she stopped some distance away from the car, told the children to wait where they were in the same stern tone, then signaled her husband and Alyssa to follow her. The three of them stopped several feet away, and Waylon spoke up, as he glanced over at the kids to make sure they were okay

"Honey, we need to go, we don't have time to stand around chatting."

But his wife shook her head and turned to the other woman.

"I'm not stupid, Alyssa." She said with a frown and condemning tone that took the younger woman by surprise, she opened her mouth to speak, but Lisa continued "You think I didn't see it?! That.. rocket, whatever the hell they shot, was coming for you! It was aimed directly at _you,_ and you alone!"

Alyssa's puzzled expression softened as she began to understand the woman's issue, but Waylon interjected "Jesus Christ, this is a really bad time, we have to get out of town!" he raised his voice only slightly, and his wife raised hers significantly more.

"Are you out of your mind, Waylon?! You saw it even better than me, that rocket was coming for her! All of us were right there at the table, they could've killed our entire family, but they didn't, they chose her! She's their priority now, she was probably their priority the whole time but we couldn't tell!"

Alyssa took a small step back and frowned when the woman quickly pointed a finger at her, but Waylon raised his hand to his forehead in frustration

"So what the fuck do you suggest, huh?! We're all in deep shit Lisa, the worst thing we could do right now is start arguing with each other!"

The younger woman rose her hand in an attempt to calm down the irate couple "I.. Look, Mrs. Park, I understand your concern, your children were in danger, we all were, we're all in trouble, and your husband is right, we need to get ourselves together and find a safe place."

"Safe place?! I'm sorry Alyssa, but that's exactly what I want, a safe place, and after what just happened, I think it's damn obvious that any place is not safe as long as you're anywhere near!" Lisa shouted as tears began forming in her eyes and she glanced over at the children, who were watching them with concerned and somewhat fearful faces.

Alyssa swallowed, and her gaze dropped to the ground by itself. She had no answer, she couldn't disagree, it was painfully apparent who the target had been in the assassination attempt.

"Relax, you're scared, I get it, but you're being too emotional. Obviously I love the kids too and they'll get to them over my dead body, but you're not thinking clearly." Waylon tried to keep his voice down in case they were attracting attention, but the woman snapped at him again

"They already got to them, Waylon, they're hurt, Sam's hurt! What don't you understand, we're not going to be safe near her, your children are going to be in danger whenever she's close!"

Alyssa felt a tinge of betrayal when the woman threw her a brief but very condemning look, she tried to formulate an appropriate response, but her thoughts were cut short by the sudden sound of a car door slamming.

It sounded like it came from her car, and when they turned to look towards it, she was surprised to see the Walrider's hooded disguised form step towards them. What unsettled her more, however, was the fact that he was clearly irate as well, it was obvious from his aggressive gait, but even more so from the anger she could feel almost radiating off of him.

"Then make yourself scarce, bitch." As taken aback as they all were upon hearing the swarm's rough and threatening tone, Alyssa quickly stepped in front of him to stop him from approaching the couple further, and much to her relief, he didn't try to get closer.

Waylon also partially stepped in front of his wife, only for the woman to grab his sleeve and pull him back

"I-I just might! Forget it, you can keep whatever demons are haunting you too, as if Murkoff wasn't enough reason to leave!" she said with a mix of anger and fear, then stormed to the trunk of the car, took their suitcases and began walking away.

Both Alyssa and Waylon seemed even more surprised "Are you serious?" she questioned in disbelief as she watched the couple depart, mostly dragged away by the woman.

Alyssa took a step forward, but froze in place when she felt the Walrider's hand grip tightly on her arm.

"This isn't a good idea!" Waylon almost shouted as he stopped and pulled his wife to a halt as well, but she quickly slapped his hand off her arm

"For the love of god, Waylon, do you even care for the safety of our family?!" she paused briefly, but spoke again before he could answer "If you do, then get it through your head that we need to leave!" she watched him like a hawk as the man looked over to Alyssa, then to his wife, then to the younger woman again, and shook his head with an almost sad expression

"I'm sorry, Alyssa."

Without another word, he followed his wife as they took the children by the hand and walked away rather hurriedly in search for transport out of town.

She watched the family distance themselves for several long seconds, almost finding it difficult to believe what just happened, then slowly walked towards the car, partially still in shock, as she was pushed to the passenger seat by the Walrider.

"Good riddance." He said once he sat on the driver's seat and turned the engine on.


	27. Chapter 27

Alyssa raised one hand off her lap, only to watch it lightly tremble, and all of a sudden, a gruesome image of the man covered in his young wife's blood and remains flashed through her mind, accompanied by the heartbreaking sound of the wailing baby, she shuddered and shook her head, moments away from bursting into tears, but she quickly suppressed the memory and tried to keep herself together.

"Did.. did that just happen?" she asked as he started driving off, returning her mind to the still unpleasant, but not nearly so, events of a minute ago.

"Fortunately."

She couldn't quite find the focus to get upset at his answer, and was even more distraught when she noticed they were about to drive past the Parks. As they did so, she turned her gaze down and leaned forward, resting her forehead in her palm, not wanting to see them again, not that she was very upset with them, but out of disbelief and frustration.

Until the Walrider took a rather fast sharp turn, and she leaned back in her seat then secured her seat belt in place, partially absentmindedly. Only minutes later, when they were relatively far away from town did her racing mind finally give her a break, and she fully realized he was driving. As odd as she found it at first, she didn't question it, briefly recalling his past lives story.

What did confuse her, was when she also realized that they were driving in the opposite direction, back towards Denver city.

"Wait.. what are you doing, we're heading back to Denver this way, we gotta go west.." she started, but her voice faded as she recalled the fact that they weren't with the Parks anymore to go to their vacation home.

"I know, and we have no business west."

It eased her nerves that at least he was less angry, now that he had finally gotten his way of splitting up; she didn't want to bring it up, but she didn't put it past him to hurt someone back at the hospital argument if the moods had gotten more heated.

"What business do we have in Denver then?.." she asked softly

"Need a headquarters. That hotel will do." He stated plainly, and a faint puzzled frown set on Alyssa's face

"Headquarters for what?.."

"You'll see. We might have company."

Her frown grew a little deeper at his words, but for the time being, she was still too affected by the present lingering shock to keep questioning him about the future; she told herself to ask for details later but another question nagged her almost since the moment that rocket flew past her

"How.. just how did they find us? We took so many precautions.."

"Precautions? Don't be ridiculous, human. You colored your hair and changed your clothes. I told you it would not fool Murkoff's facial recognition software."

Alyssa blinked with some understanding "So.. the CCTV cameras? But.. we avoided them."

"I can attest to that.. But I cannot say the same about them."

She glanced over at him with a genuinely puzzled expression "What are you talking about?"

"They never told you. I'm not surprised." As tempting as it was to speak ill of them, he decided to stick to the matter at hand "I patrolled the hotel floor for a while when you were sleeping last night. I saw her leave, she was absent for less than an hour, only heard something about a visit."

"A visit.. did Lisa go visit someone in the city?"

"Most likely. Could've been spotted by surveillance cameras, could've been traced, tracked by vehicle, drone, helicopter, even satellite, hard to tell."

A heavy sigh left Alyssa, she remained thoughtfully silent for a while "Was bound to happen eventually, I'm afraid.. And it doesn't change much, it's still true, it looks like Murkoff are after me now.."

Looking out the window, she still couldn't help fearing for the family's safety without the Walrider's protection by proximity; even though it appeared that she was the main target now, it seemed unlikely to her that they would entirely quit pursuing Waylon and shift all of their attention onto her.

She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, only to flinch as within seconds, the image of the bloodied father and sound of crying baby invaded her mind out of nowhere. A whimper escaped her before she could silence herself, and she again forced herself to push the deeply disturbing memories away.

"What is it?" the Walrider asked upon noticing her abrupt distressed reaction, but she shook her head quickly

"Nothing, I just.. saw some things back there. Don't want to remember."

She remained quiet for the next minutes, trying to busy herself with anything, alternating between looking out the window, browsing through her phone, checking the paper map, but when she opened the glove box, her hand refused to reach inside upon seeing the camcorder she used at the asylum.

Slowly closing the compartment, she checked her seat belt, then glanced over at the disguised swarm, and a thought struck her. Somewhat hesitantly, she reached for the seat belt on his side and pulled it down, trying to ignore the silky feeling as her fingers brushed against his nanite jacket. He said nothing at first, only followed her hand with his gaze as she placed the end of the belt in the holder between seats.

"You can't possibly believe that affects anything."

She could pick up a hint of amusement in his voice, but she leaned back in her seat and crossed one leg over the other

"You.. you look sketchy enough, Wally, let's not give a cop even more reasons to get interested in us if we stop at a light next to a police cruiser."

The more they approached the city, the harder it became for Alyssa to keep her mind from returning to the recent events, and she found it increasingly difficult to hold herself together upon repeatedly remembering the father and baby. She pulled her knees to her chest, placed her hand over her mouth and bit her lip hard in an attempt to prevent herself from bursting into tears.

Her state of mind and behavior didn't escape the Walrider, he stepped down on the pedal further, nearly reaching the speed limit

"Save it for later, human.."

His words made her bite down on her lip even harder, she licked away a tiny drop of blood, but nodded shakily and squeezed her arms around her knees.

Once they reached the destination, they stopped the car in the underground parking lot and she quickly realized she had to try to appear calm and casual when they would step out in public. Putting on the most convincing poker face she could manage, she exited the car and followed the disguised swarm.

Being partially lost in her thoughts made her trail behind him almost several feet, too much for his liking, so without a word, he turned back, grabbed her hand, and began walking faster. The relatively gentle manner in which he moved surprised her, however, she quickly realized he was in a good mood, at least compared to his usual mood, but in her fragile state of mind, the reason why he was in a good mood upset her enough to make her snap at him

"You're real fucking happy, huh?!" she tried to roughly pull her hand from his, but failed, and tried to keep her voice down as they approached the hotel "You're really content that they're out there by themselves, hunted by those bastards!"

Some of her rationality, along with a sense of fear, came back when he squeezed her hand relatively tightly, but she couldn't feel any genuine anger, nor hear it in his voice

"I am." His answer and carefree tone still displeased her, but she somewhat deflated as he finished "Not my responsibility."

As upset as she was, she couldn't argue with that, it was true, it was only her own life that was linked to his, he had no real reason to be concerned with the safety of anyone else, but that understanding didn't entirely set her nerves at ease.

Still, she once again put on her best poker face as they walked inside the hotel and stepped to the reception desk. To her surprise, the Walrider put on the most human voice she'd heard from him

"Penthouse suite, available?"

The woman behind the desk seemed a bit taken aback by his appearance, but she remained calm and answered his question with a smile

"Yes sir, it was cleared just this morning, would you like it?"

The disguised swarm nodded, then signaled Alyssa, who made the payment, but waited until they walked inside the elevator to speak

"Why is this necessary? We can't afford spending cash like this."

"Don't fret, human. We need money, we go rob Murkoff." He said casually as he hit the top floor button and Alyssa's jaw dropped slightly.

She stared at him in disbelief for a few moments before shaking her head "You know what, I shouldn't really be surprised, I did find you in a mental asylum, after all."

Quietly waiting for the elevator to reach the top of the building, she squeezed her fist tightly as another wave of fresh, scarring memories suddenly invaded her mind and threatened to push her over the edge, she leaned on the wall of the cabin as she took a deep shaky breath, making an effort to not exhale into sobs.

She hated that her mind, already tainted from the asylum, grew even more tainted and traumatized after the recent events, so much so that it made her feel physically dirty, she wanted to wash it away, she knew it wouldn't make the images go away, but she needed to do anything to try to feel less tainted.

Once the elevator reached the destination and they stepped inside the penthouse apartment, Alyssa walked up to the living room, slightly taken aback by the view of the city beyond the large balcony, but she tossed her backpack on one of the soft cream sofas. She briefly glanced at the bar on the side of the giant room, the large TV on the wall, and out the window that almost entirely surrounded the apartment, only occasionally separated by relatively narrow wall sections, then, rather hurriedly, slipped out of her jacket and dropped it, along with the bandanna, on the floor.

She went in search for the bathroom as she unbuttoned her pants, feeling a hint of hesitation and embarrassment as she walked past the Walrider, but she was far too busy trying to suppress her memories to be concerned with that.

Opening another door revealed not the bathroom but a large bedroom equipped with a tall king-sized bed, wardrobe, futon and armchair, TV set, and mirror which covered almost the entirety of one wall, while two of the others consisted of glass, including a glass sliding door that lead to a balcony occupied by a couple of low armchairs and coffee table in between. A brief thought went through her mind, the amount of transparency raised some privacy concerns, until she recalled the glass was a one-way mirror.

Inside the bedroom, there was another door, which, much to her relief, lead to a bathroom, almost as large as her fairly large kitchen at home, designed in a similarly modern fashion, with sleek silver and black tiles and polished stone. Without taking the time to admire much, she tossed her top on the ground, along with the rest of her clothes, then slid open the frosted glass door of the shower cabin and hopped inside. Too absorbed in her thoughts to slide it closed behind her, she only flinched and inhaled sharply as she turned the shower on and a powerful jet of water hit her, before she quickly adjusted the pressure and temperature.

Trying to keep herself together, she began scrubbing herself, a sob almost escaped her as the images insisted to invade her mind. With great difficulty, she suppressed them for a while longer; she kept washing herself, soaking her hair with water, but noticing the red tresses on her skin only made things harder.

Minutes later, she didn't even realize she was beginning to scrub herself raw, her skin grew reddish in places, while her breath grew increasingly shallower as she tried to remain calm and collected, which, even on the surface, she mostly failed at, and on the inside, her restraint was hanging by a thread.

When the soap slipped out of her hand, she crouched down to pick it up, but as she did so, she finally lost what little strength she had left. She dropped on the smooth, hard stone shower floor and leaned her back against the wall as she broke down, not caring if the sound of the water couldn't mask the sound of her sobbing.

The traumatizing images flashed through her mind unrestricted, fueling her anguish, she felt too weak to continue suppressing them, and while finally crying it out felt slightly better than struggling to keep herself together, she still hated everything about it. She hated that her mind had been scarred and imprinted beyond repair with horrific images from the asylum, she hated that it hadn't stopped, that judging by the recent events, it wasn't going to stop as long as she was going to be hunted, she hated that innocent bystanders had to be subjected to the consequences of her actions, and most of all, she hated that she was powerless to do anything about it herself.

In frustration and heartache, she leaned her head back rather quickly and hit it against the wall, moderately lightly, although it still hurt, especially due to the solid stone of the shower's interior, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the time, she brought her knees to her chest and squeezed her arms around them while the sobs continued to leave her. Her tears quickly mixed with the water running down her face, and the blood on her skin that she drew by digging her nails into her shins, mostly without even being aware of it, was also quickly washed away.

From the living room, the Walrider could hear her cries, faintly, but audibly, at least to his unnatural sense of hearing. Even if he couldn't hear her, the miserable aura of grief and despair she was radiating from far away was almost palpable to him. He wasn't surprised by any of it, he could feel it bottling up inside her for the past couple hours, it was only a matter of time, and it appeared that the time had run out.

He had already reverted back to his usual form, as the disguise required a larger number of nanites, he uncrossed his arms and walked away from the balcony. His inky black skeletal feet stepped over the gleaming hardwood flooring, soft carpets and smooth marble, until he swung the bathroom door open. Without hesitation, he approached the crying human on the shower floor, whose face was resting over her knees as her shoulders briefly rose and dropped with each sob.

Alyssa was too absorbed in her misery to react when she felt two skeletal hands grab her upper arms and slowly lift her up. She made a half-hearted attempt to stabilize herself on her feet that wasn't too successful, her legs felt weak, as did most of her body, but it wasn't the main reason why she suddenly reached forward and wrapped her arms around him.

She felt his brief surprise as she sobbed in his chest, but he didn't pull back, and she was at the point where she couldn't bring herself to care that she was crying against the remorseless killing machine she encountered below the asylum, she needed to get it off her chest, and not being alone in doing so helped more than she anticipated. It also didn't escape her that without his assistance a few hours ago, she highly doubted she would've been able to dodge the explosive projectile flying towards her; once again she would've been either dead or in serious trouble if he hadn't been there.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with those people?!" she suddenly spoke rather loudly over the falling water, between sobs, and felt her legs growing weaker. She began to slide down, before he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her up.

"Collateral damage is not an issue to Murkoff, we made that clear before." He said calmly as he felt her nails dig into his back upon hearing his words, but he kept his nanites tightly in place so they wouldn't be dragged down the drain with the water.

"I hate them! I fucking hate them-" she started as a string of sobs interrupted her "So much…"

"Then take action!" he squeezed her waist slightly, and her sobs began dying down "You cannot run from your problems forever, human. We have to respond in kind."

She said nothing else for a long minute, as her sobs grew increasingly infrequent, his words stirred a mix of emotions within her, she agreed that she couldn't run forever, that much became painfully true, and she dreaded the very likely possibility of today's events repeating over and over if nothing was done to prevent them. At the same time, she was still terrified of willingly going anywhere near anyone associated with Murkoff in any way, especially after dodging certain death mere hours ago.

Slowly and hesitantly, and not without changing her mind a few times, the desire to prevent tragedies like today had finally surpassed her fear just enough to swing the scales and convince herself to comply with the Walrider. She swallowed, and slowly looked up at him after pushing herself to not change her mind again

"Wh.. what do you need me to do?.."

The fear on her face was still very obvious to him, but it wasn't the only thing, he could detect some determination as well, which was also present in her voice. He had to admit to himself, it did please him, he lightly squeezed her tighter against him and flicked the shower faucet off to stop the water flow

"Follow me, and remain close enough to maintain our link."

Without giving it further thought, she leaned her head against him and slowly nodded in his chest, but then lightly flinched when the realization finally began fully sinking in that she was entirely nude. At that point, it had happened enough times before that it didn't affect her too much, but even as she recollected herself she still felt some warmth rising to her cheeks as she gently pulled away from him and wrapped herself in the closest towel she could find.

It wasn't an ideal choice, as it turned out to be barely wide enough to cover her from above the breasts to below the buttocks, but it was better than nothing until she gathered her clothes. With another towel, she dried her hair and flipped it over her back. Picking up her clothes, she placed them on the bed, but decided to get her jacket as well, so she made her way to the living room.

She had to admit, she felt much better after crying out her pent-up emotions, and the fact that she hadn't been alone in doing it made it even better. Outside the bedroom, she walked past the Walrider, who had left to give her some privacy when it seemed like she needed it.

"Hey.." she started somewhat reluctantly, as she stepped into the living room with him closely behind "At least one good thing came out of this whole mess.."

The Walrider cocked his head at her curiously, genuinely unable to tell what she could be referring to, and spoke when she didn't look at him

"And what might that be?"

Alyssa held on to her towel and turned to the side before she bent over to pick up her jacket and bandanna, then quickly scurried out of the room with the clothes while she answered with a small smile

"You finally said my name."

Returning to the bedroom that she decided to sleep in in the future, she put her clothes on, but couldn't ignore the apprehension she felt about whatever the Walrider's plan was. When she walked back to the living room, she saw him standing on the balcony, leaning on the railing and looking down. It made her somewhat nervous, both instinctively because she was afraid of heights, despite the fact that she knew that wasn't a risk to him, and also because of the possibility of being spotted.

Hesitantly, she stepped onto the balcony, but remained a few feet behind the tall but glass railing wall "Someone could see you.."

The Walrider didn't turn to look at her as he stated simply "This is one of the tallest buildings in the city, distance is too great."

"Unless they have some binoculars.." Alyssa commented mostly to herself, then took a small step forward "So.. Are we ready? Where exactly are we going again?" she asked with noticeable tension and apprehension.

"Nowhere. Not yet. The darkness will cover us, we leave at midnight."

His answer gave her mixed feelings, she was relieved that they wouldn't have to go anywhere for the time being, but having to use the darkness to their advantage made her guard go up. Still, she reminded herself that she shouldn't try to back down, she had already agreed to stop running from her problems and having innocent people pay for her actions.

She swallowed and nodded once "You're.. not going to give me the details, are you?"

After a few silent thoughtful moments, he looked back at her "No. Having you constantly stress and worry over each detail is not going to help us." Alyssa felt a hint of disappointment at his comment, but she couldn't disagree, she was well aware of how her mind tended to overthink and worry about every potential danger, perhaps it was better not to know until the time was right.

"You're afraid." His sudden statement seemed out of place to her at first, until she realized he was referring to the extreme height they were at, which did intimidate her a lot more than she was willing to admit.

"I.. don't like balconies." She said quietly and stepped back, until he spoke again, in a rather demanding tone, making her stop in her tracks

"Come here."

A nervous exhale left her "Not gonna happen.." but before she could even take another step back, he grabbed her arm and pulled her right next to the railing. Immediately, she squirmed and tried to get away, but he blocked her by standing directly behind her and placing his hands around her forearms while she gripped the top of the railing like a vice.

"W-what are you doing?!" she couldn't keep her eyes from glancing down, and upon having a clear view of the tremendous height, her legs began shaking more than slightly. Both the feeling of her legs turning into melting butter, and her instinct, made her try to crouch down on the balcony floor, but a whimper escaped her as he quickly wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her back up to her feet.

In an attempt to get away, she began moving back, only for her ass to bump against his hips, the sudden contact making her freeze in place, until she heard a brief low growl from him

"Don't give me ideas, human."

Immediately, she pulled back from him and towards the railing, but his arm prevented her from moving too much forward.

Even though he couldn't see her rosy cheeks, he could tell that the fear in her had diminished, and decided to continue distracting her

"We're going to find Billy."

Alyssa's anxiety further decreased upon hearing his words as her mind shifted its focus from the perceived danger of the height below over to that night's plan, she relaxed slightly but noticeably as a faint questioning frown set on her face

"Billy? But.. Isn't he in the hospital? And wasn't he on life support in the asylum? How is he gonna help us?" she did her best to keep staring in the distance at the city and horizon, instead of down.

"He is. I will artificially sustain his life until he's served his purpose."

His words made her frown deepen, as the fear was further distracted out of her "What do you mean 'until'? And how exactly is he going to help us?" she asked while some apprehension began growing in her, but he answered dismissively

"Details…"

A short, somewhat tense sigh left Alyssa, by then, she understood that he wasn't going to give her those details. She pulled away gently, and was a bit surprised that he did let her go.

Walking back into the living room, she dropped herself onto the soft cream sofa and turned on the giant television on the wall. As she flipped through news channels, she wasn't surprised to see nothing new about Murkoff, but it was still somewhat disappointing and frustrating.

Now that she knew she was waiting for the clock to hit midnight, time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly, so in an attempt to keep the boredom at bay, she decided to check out the rest of the apartment. After finding the fully equipped, pristine white and grey kitchen, three more bedrooms as fancy as the one she first walked into, a terrace with a large aquarium occupied by exotic fish, lounge chairs, Jacuzzi and pool, she had to admit, it was the most luxurious environment she'd ever been in. It quickly brought back money concerns, and even more concerns after she recalled the Walrider's solution to the eventual problem.

Realizing that she already had more than enough things to worry about, she decided to dismiss those concerns for the time being and try to keep herself busy. When her wandering mind asked what it would be like if her family was there with her, she entertained the thought for a few moments, but then pushed it away with a hint of fear. As much as she grew to trust the Walrider with her life, she would be lying if she said she trusted him around other people, even if those people were her loved ones, she wouldn't want to take such a risk.

Once she dismissed the ideas of her family, her thoughts went back to the other family she'd been traveling with until recently, and on top of her worries for their safety, she also felt a tinge of sadness. It didn't take her long to realize that sadness stemmed from the sense of rejection she felt upon Lisa's decision to split up, although it wasn't so much the decision itself as it was the manner in which she made it.

As she walked down the marble floor of the brightly lit apartment, the image of the woman's condemning scowl and tone of voice returned to her mind, making a slight frown subconsciously grow on her face. Glancing out the window, she couldn't help wondering where the family was at the moment, and especially if they were safe, she almost wondered if she could find them from this height if she had a telescope.

The more time passed, the more anxious and tense Alyssa became, she even considered trying out the Jacuzzi, partly to relax and partly because she'd never been in one before, but she recalled that she had no bikini, and didn't feel comfortable enough to go in the nude.

When she returned to the living room, she was slightly surprised to see the Walrider sitting in the middle of the central sofa in front of the TV, appearing oddly calm.

"You're awfully patient, you know.." she said as she somewhat lazily rolled over the back of the sofa and dropped onto it "Never would've thought.. especially considering how easily pissed off you get.."

She tensed up a bit when he slowly turned to look at her, hoping that she hadn't said something out of line.

"Imprisonment for a near century will do that to you."

Another hint of sadness rose in Alyssa upon hearing his remark, she thought about it only briefly, but couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like.

"I'm sor.." she started, but her voice faded as she recalled what he told her the last time she apologized only out of sympathy, plus the fact that he would still be in captivity if it hadn't been for her going to the asylum "Nevermind.."

Eventually, after what felt like several more hours, the clock finally reached midnight. By that time, Alyssa was nervously rechecking her backpack, hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror for what felt like the hundredth time.

She jumped when the silence of the room and the stream of thoughts in her mind were suddenly interrupted by the door being slammed open, revealing the hooded disguised form of the Walrider, whose tone seemed almost urgent

"Come."

Without a word, she hurried after him, outside the apartment and into the elevator, her heart thumped noticeably heavier than usual against her chest, but she tried to calm it with slow, deep breaths. Normally, she would've been more than a little sleepy at that hour, especially considering the fact that she had woken up relatively early, but the current situation replaced any sleepiness with a sense of foreboding.

Knowing her mind would race with worries if she allowed it, she decided to make some idle conversation instead "So.. How long do you think this will take? When will we be back?"

Just as he was about to answer, they both paused when the elevator came to a halt, opened its doors, and three people walked inside. Their hesitation upon noticing her companion was obvious, even more so when the Walrider didn't bother stepping aside to make room for them, raising some tension in the small cabin.

In an attempt to ease it, Alyssa locked her arm around his, hoping to pull him closer to one side of the elevator. Much to her relief, he did move, and she spoke again, trying to sound casual

"So.. When was it?"

"Depends on the corporation's response time. Should be a few hours."

When she sneaked a peek at the other people, she noticed their rather unsettled expressions upon hearing the hooded man's gravelly, almost inhuman voice, he made no attempt to change it as he did at the reception desk. When the group had walked in, they briefly paused their conversation, but now they didn't seem willing to resume it, so a somewhat tense and awkward silence fell inside the cabin.

Once the elevator reached the ground floor, the strangers walked out first, trying to appear casual, but even Alyssa could tell they were moving hurriedly. Making their way out of the hotel lobby, she followed closely behind the Walrider, whose walking pace was slightly faster than she would've preferred, but she didn't complain.

"Is it just me, or they were kinda scared? I mean, what's their problem, for all they knew, you could be smoking 3 packs a day, can take a toll on your voice, no need to get all spooked, sheesh." She commented jokingly, mostly to relieve some stress through amusement and keep her mind busy with less serious things.

"Healthy dose of fear and disturbed confusion, to be exact." He said as if stating an obvious fact, raising some confusion in Alyssa as well.

"How are you so sure?.." she asked more comfortable as they approached the much less populated parking lot and made their way to her car.

"Emotions are transmitted through the fifth dimension, I can see them like you can see colors."

His answer took her aback somewhat, she glanced around the parking lot at the differently colored vehicles, not even sure what she was looking for.

"Huh. Sounds useful." She finally said as they reached the car and she hopped on the driver's seat.

Since she couldn't precisely recall the location of the hospital they needed to find, they stopped by an internet café and checked a map, then continued the night ride. Once reached the city outskirts, the increasing lack of other vehicles on the road made her feel slightly unsafe, especially considering the late hour, but a glance towards the Walrider next to her helped put her nerves at ease.

As she kept her eyes on the gradually deserted road and hands relaxed on the steering wheel, a small yawn left her and her mind began wandering. It wasn't long until it went back to the disturbing events of that morning, which still affected her, but since she had already gotten it off her chest, she didn't feel the urge to break down anymore. When she thought back to the way they had split up from the Parks, it was still upsetting, but she couldn't suppress a smirk upon recalling a particular moment.

"I can't believe you called Lisa a bitch…"

"Perhaps I should have resorted to actions instead of mere words."

His answer made Alyssa's smirk fade rather quickly, she quietly glanced at him for a moment

" _Perhaps_ it was for the best that we split up, then…" she shook her head discreetly then dared a condemning tone "I.. honestly, why would you say that? They're an innocent family being hunted by those bastards for simply trying to help other people, just like me. What the hell did they ever do to you?"

A few silent and increasingly tense seconds passed, Alyssa's hands subconsciously squeezed on the steering wheel, she swallowed and opened her mouth, about to tell him to forget what she'd just said, then instantly regretted her tone and words.

The control over the vehicle was taken away from her, and her heart skipped a beat when one of his hands suddenly gripped the hair on the back of her head, while the other grabbed her under the chin. A fearful whimper left her as he roughly pulled her face right next to his, his grip on her neck was uncomfortable, but not so tight that she couldn't breathe or it hurt, but she remained motionless.

Her jaw dropped slightly in confusion and fear, it mildly trembled as her mind raced with the best thing she could say, yet she still realized that despite his aggressive behavior, there was no genuine anger or ill intent that she could detect.

Staring into his dark sunglasses, she could distinguish a reflection of her wide eyes in the lens, then inhaled sharply through her mouth when he suddenly pulled her even closer and broke the silence in which she could only hear her own heart thumping

"Do we have a problem, _Alyssa_?"

She didn't know what distracted her more, the slow manner in which he spoke, in an even deeper tone than usual, the way he emphasized her name, or the fact that she could actually see the shape of a pair of lips moving behind his mask as he spoke.

Even though some fear was present in her, she could tell that it wasn't nearly as much as it should've been in a situation like that, and for a moment, she could've sworn she felt a hint of excitement, but quickly ignored the thought, as it seemed nonsensical. Slowly, she shook her head and pushed herself to speak timidly

"Not one problem…"

Her shallow breath, as well as her thumping heart, both refused to return to normal, as a few more silent and motionless moments passed, until he finally began taking his hands off of her. In a firm, almost gentle motion, he pushed her back to her seat, and she felt a few hairs stand up on the back of her neck when his hand brushed against her cheek as he retracted it.

The little trance she was in was suddenly broken by a small but sharp swerve of the car as its control was returned to her, and she quickly grabbed the steering wheel, stabilizing the vehicle. She didn't dare to say another word for a while, until a rather important thought struck her.

"Wait.. Didn't you once tell me that Billy's mind was.. well, messed up? Can he really help us in his condition?"

Much to her relief, the Walrider spoke matter-of-factly, as if nothing had happened "He doesn't need to be mentally sound in order to be of use to us, but…" he paused briefly and turned to her "Do you remember the tubes connected to his body inside the capsule?"

Alyssa only nodded with a faint curious frown and listened carefully as he continued "They were used to infuse a supply of chemical cocktails directly into his systems, Murkoff thought they induced an ideal state for control, that it boosted his ability to manipulate nanites. They were mostly right, but it had side effects, it damaged his mental sanity. It was only temporary at first, but in time, it began leaving permanent marks. Without the chemical infusion, however, Billy could be lucid enough, hard to tell, but it makes little difference, as I said, his sanity is not required."

Alyssa swallowed, and nodded again, slower, trying to keep her mind focused on the road and not return to the horrible memories from the asylum.


	28. Chapter 28

Eventually, they reached the hospital, and Alyssa parked towards the back of the rather huge parking lot, behind a larger truck, but her grip on the steering wheel remained somewhat tight.

"So.. how exactly are we going to get Billy out of there?" she turned to the Walrider, only to watch him dissipate into a cloud and flow outside the car, scattering to invisibility.

A quick sigh left her, her apprehension had been rising the closer they got to the hospital, and seeing herself seemingly alone didn't help put her nerves at ease. She almost jumped when the car door at her left suddenly opened, but stepped out and took a closer look at the brightly illuminated hospital in front of the relatively dark parking lot.

"Are you-" she started, but went quiet and began walking as she felt the shape of a hand on her lower back push her forward.

 **_We need to find where they're keeping Billy, go inside._ **

Even though there weren't any people in the vicinity that could hear her, she decided to remain silent and walked towards the hospital entrance in a mildly hurried manner.

Once inside the building, she found herself in a large lobby with typical-looking long hospital hallways stretching straight ahead and to the left, a number of chairs where people were waiting on, and a long, tall, semi-circular reception desk directly to her right, behind which two nurses in white uniforms stood, mostly busy with patients and paperwork.

Alyssa couldn't help feeling slightly out of place, she wished she had at least taken her hood off before she had walked inside, but her concerns were interrupted by the voice in her head.

 **_Ask the bitch behind the desk about William Hope._ **

A faint smirk set on her face, which she suppressed quickly, she did not expect the uncalled-for name for the stranger, and wasn't even sure why it amused her, but she complied.

Walking over to the desk, she waited in line behind another person, then spoke when her turn came, in the most innocent and polite tone she could muster, it was only partially genuine

"Excuse me, is William Hope here? I'm a friend of his and I heard he was transferred here."

The nurse took a step aside to the computer and began typing as she spoke with a small smile "William Hope? Just a moment, miss."

Unbeknownst to the woman, the disembodied entity stood right behind her, watching the monitor.

"Uh, Mr. Hope is here." The nurse said after she found Billy's name in the database, along with more information, including the room he was kept in "But I'm afraid you can't see him, you're not on the visitation list, I'm sorry." Her tone turned sympathetic upon seeing the concerned and somewhat sad look on the young woman's face, which was mostly faux, but convincing.

"Oh, damn, I haven't seen him in such a long time and I've been so worried about him…"

 **_Room 49._ **

Once that discovery was made, Alyssa had no more reason to continue the conversation, but the nurse replied, with a saddened expression "Yeah, I'm really sorry.. He's from the Mount Massive asylum, right? I've heard about that horrible place, it's all over the news."

Even though they already got the information they wanted, she decided to continue answering in a believable manner "Yes! God, I thought I'd never see him again… How are you sure I'm not on the visitors list, though? I haven't told you my name yet."

The nurse seemed hesitant to reply, she briefly glanced at her colleague who was busy with other patients and out of earshot at the other side of the large desk, then finally spoke somewhat quietly

"I'm not really allowed to tell you this but, this story really got to me and.. well, honestly.. Billy's mother is the only person on his visitation list, and she hasn't come by so far.. We haven't even received a single phone call from her about her son."

At that point, Alyssa's faux expression turned genuinely sad rather quickly without her even realizing it "Oh.. I-I should get in contact with her then and maybe we could both come visit."

The nurse's mood seemed to lighten up upon hearing her words "That'd be great, he.. I mean all of these poor people need all the support they can get after what they've been through. I've seen that.. video.." a visible shudder went through the woman, and Alyssa offered a smile

"I agree, I'll go stop by Mrs. Hope's place then."

The other woman nodded and returned to work. Alyssa stepped back from the desk and partially turned away, but didn't walk towards the exit, waiting for the voice in her head, which came right on time, but not with what she expected.

 **_Your emotional manipulation skills are better than I would've thought._ **

She pulled the phone out of her pocket fairly quickly and placed it to her ear so it wouldn't look as if she was talking to herself, but kept her voice low

"I wasn't being-.. I wasn't doing that!"

 ** _She would not have given you further information if it hadn't been for your acting._** She opened her mouth to protest again, but silenced herself when he continued. **_Move, she turned away. Up the stairs._**

Throwing a glance to the reception desk, she noticed that the nurse she told she was going to leave and return with Billy's mother did turn away, so without a moment wasted, she followed the directions and walked up the large stairwell at the side of the lobby until she stood at the end of another brightly lit, fairly busy hallway.

She tried to appear casual as she walked down the corridor, and a random thought struck her while she carefully stepped around some patients.

 _At least these patients aren't gonna try to rip my head off or.. worse._ Discreetly glancing at the numbers above the doors informed her that she was getting closer, but when she looked in the distance, counting where the correct door would be, she almost froze in her tracks when she saw a police officer standing right next to it.

 _Shit…_ She almost spoke out loud to the Walrider, but held her tongue, and only kept walking closer but slower towards Billy's room. Once she was several meters away, she stopped by a few chairs and took a seat next to an old woman, trying to appear as if she needed to be there. Taking her phone out, she raised it to her ear and spoke under her breath

"What the heck do we do now, Wally? There's a cop right there! Why is he even here?"

 **_Likely due to the way they found Billy, they think he's a valuable witness with incriminating information regarding Murkoff._ **

"Great.. well, what now then?"

 **_The room is not sealed, I've already infiltrated it. Billy's on life support, I'm going to take control of his systems._ **

A small concerned frown set on Alyssa's face at his words "What exactly does that mean?"

 **_His heart and lungs are too damaged and weakened to function by themselves with any reliability. I have to encase them in swarms and pump them manually so he can be removed from the machines without dying._ **

Her frown only deepened upon hearing those details, she couldn't help feeling that it seemed wrong "Jesus.. That's like a dead man walking, is there really no other way? Can't you just heal his damaged organs like you did with me when I got shot to hell?"

 **_We don't have the days required to repair this amount of damage._ **

As inconvenient as that was, she knew from first-hand experience that it was true, since it had taken a few days to fully heal her own severe wounds, so she nodded

"Let's just bring him back safely after we're done with him, then." She waited for a few seconds, but heard nothing in response, so she spoke louder in a slightly more demanding tone "Okay?"

 **_That will depend on a number of factors, Alyssa. It remains to be seen._ **

A disheartened sigh left her, but she remained quiet.

 _Great, poor bastard goes through hell at Murkoff's hands, gets out by a miracle, and now he's taking him to god knows where and risking his life after barely making it out of the asylum alive…_

As unfortunate as the young man's situation was, she remembered how the Walrider told her that most of the deaths at the asylum were caused by Billy, it was something she couldn't simply dismiss, but at the same time, his mental sanity was damaged, it wasn't entirely his fault.

A minute later, the voice in her head interrupted her thoughts and startled her.

 **_His vitals will remain stable without the machines. Get up._ **

Alyssa nearly stood up immediately, but on second thought, refrained from it "Where are we going?"

 **_I need you to be closer to the generator so I can disable it._ **

She had to make an effort to keep her voice down "What!? But-"

 **_The backup generator will activate within moments to provide power to the life support systems and minimum lighting. Get moving, down the hall._ **

Despite the bad feeling she had about it, Alyssa stood up and made her way to the other end of the corridor, she ignored the officer at Billy's door, even though she couldn't ignore her nervousness when she walked by him, but she hid it successfully.

Once reached the end of the long hallway, the voice in her head instructed her again. **_Left._**

Following the direction, she walked down another corridor, until she noticed a single door on the side with the sign _Authorized personnel only_ displayed on it.

 **_Don't move._ **

Taking in a deep breath in an attempt to relax and ease her nervousness, Alyssa remained in place, she glanced around briefly, but was somewhat relieved to see that she didn't appear suspicious, at least as far as she could tell.

Time felt to drag by painfully slowly as she waited, in reality, it was less than two minutes, but to her increasingly anxious mind, it seemed almost tenfold.

 _Dammit, relax, don't look nervous… Come ooon, what's taking him so long._ Usually, pacing around would've helped to ease some of her tension, but in this case, she refrained from it, afraid of drawing even a little unwanted attention.

Finally, after what felt like several minutes of being watched and looking increasingly suspicious due to her nervousness, it happened. In an instant, the lights in the entire building died off, making Alyssa jump. Only moments later, however, a number of them came back on, but generating a minimum amount of lighting, barely enough to see where she was going.

 **_Return to Billy, go!_ **

Without a moment wasted, Alyssa began making her way back towards Billy's room, hurrying more than a little, but at the same time trying to avoid attracting attention, which was rather easy, considering the commotion and confusion that sparked building-wide the second the main generator was disabled. Slipping past concerned patients and nurses, even what little noise she might've made was masked by their anxious conversations.

As she approached Billy's room, however, she stopped near the wall when she noticed the officer was still standing in the same spot; as with everyone else, he seemed confused and concerned at the sudden incident.

Alyssa was about to whisper to the Walrider, when all of a sudden, a very loud noise of many metallic objects falling on the floor erupted from behind two open double doors, further down the hallway, along with the short scream of a woman. The man's reaction was almost instant, he placed his hand over the pistol on his hip, leaving his post and cautiously approaching the origin of the noise as everyone's attention was drawn towards it.

Understanding that it was a distraction made by the swarm, Alyssa didn't hesitate, she carefully but quickly approached Billy's room, and slipped inside after making sure there were no eyes on her, at least none that could notice her in the dimly lit environment.

She was a bit reluctant to approach the young man on the bed hooked up to the beeping machines, and when she saw his face, a few images of the underground laboratory flashed through her mind, including the sight of him being contorted in that glass sphere. Just seconds later, her heart almost failed her when she heard the door open fast.

Wide eyed, she looked over her shoulder, and a huge wave of relief hit her when she noticed the Walrider's hooded figure walk past her. He tossed something at the end of the bed, which, upon closer inspection, Alyssa realized was a long black trench coat. She didn't bother asking where he stole it from, figuring it could be useful in taking Billy out of the hospital without being spotted, seeing as he was wearing a typical light grey patient gown.

Silently, but with her heart threatening to beat out of her chest as the commotion outside continued, she watched the Walrider as he began quickly unhooking and disconnecting Billy from the various life support devices. Every few seconds, she kept throwing glances at the door, terrified that it was going to open and they would be found, unaware of the fact that the swarm had jammed the door knob.

Her attention was drawn back to the Walrider, however, when he suddenly slapped the unconscious man after he finished disconnecting him from the machines

"Wake up, Billy!"

"What the- Be careful!" she whispered hurriedly with concern, but he only grabbed him by the collar of the patient gown and shook him, raising his voice

"Up, you little-"

Alyssa flinched when the young man suddenly took a deep hoarse inhale, his eyes shot open and began glancing around the room. At first, his eyes landed on her, and a confused expression set on his face, but when he turned to look at the man standing over him, it quickly shifted into clear dread. He began trying to sit up and opened his mouth to scream, but only managed to do so for half a second, before the Walrider grabbed his neck and pushed him back down, covering his mouth with his hand

"Don't try anything stupid, Billy, remember, I know where your mother lives, if you don't want me to rip her limb from limb, you're going to keep quiet and do as I say, do you understand?" he spoke in a dead serious and threatening tone, setting a disturbed frown on Alyssa's face.

After a few terrified and tense moments, mostly on Billy's part, the young man finally nodded, and the swarm stepped back.

Slowly sitting up, he looked down at his hands in disbelief then looked up at the hooded entity and spoke shakily

"H.. how am I alive? Where am I?.."

The Walrider picked up the trench coat at the end of the bed, tossed it at Billy, then roughly pulled him off the bed "Hospital outside of Denver. You're dead on your feet, I'm pumping your heart and lungs."

Alyssa stepped towards the young man when she noticed he was about to lose his balance, he placed a hand on the bed to stabilize himself, and she picked up the trench coat, slightly reluctantly helping him put it on

"Come on Billy, we need to get you out of here." She said gently, but he still sounded somewhat stunned

"Wait, what.. You're not here to kill me?" he said glancing at the Walrider, then turned to Alyssa "And who the shit are you?"

Buttoning the coat closed, she tried to reassure him "I don't think it's safe to tell you my name, sorry, but no, we're here to get you out, we need your help."

Billy stared at her in confusion for a few seconds, until enough of his mind fog vanished, and the realization hit him when he looked back at the Walrider

"Holy shit, she's- O-ok man, you got what you wanted, you're free, right? S-she's not stuck in that shithole like I was, you can fuck off wherever you want now, right?"

He began stepping towards the door, but the Walrider quickly grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back, away from the exit

"Not so fast, Billy."

"What the fuck do you want from me?!" the young man raised his voice to a concerning volume, and Alyssa signaled him to shush.

The Walrider stated plainly "You're bait."

As tempted as Billy was to shout, he remembered the threat towards his mother, so he made an effort to remain quiet as he protested "What?!"

"You're going to lure Murkoff, you're going to pretend I am with you so that they will bring their countermeasures for me."

As the mix of disbelief, fear and anger on Billy's face began to show, both him and Alyssa flinched when another very loud metallic noise, accompanied by some screams suddenly erupted from some distance away down the hallway.

Understanding that it was another distraction to cover their exit, Alyssa stepped towards the door, but then froze in her tracks when the Walrider in turn stepped towards her, and raised a hand to her neck. Her body tensed almost instinctively, but quickly relaxed when he simply raised her bandanna up over her nose, covering more than half of her face.

"No time for arguments." He said as he checked the area outside the door, and then opened it once the coast was clear "Move out."

He held it open for them to walk outside as he watched the situation in the hallway to make sure it remained safe, Alyssa began approaching the door, but upon noticing Billy was still standing there with a puzzled and irritated expression on his face, she decided it was best to grab his hand and pull him outside, before the Walrider looked back and noticed he wasn't complying. To her relief, he didn't protest, he followed her out of the room; she glanced around nervously as she walked, but failed to see any indication that they were drawing attention to themselves, only noticing the swarm behind them.

Slipping past the distracted people down the dimly lit hallway with Billy was easier than Alyssa had anticipated, her heart was still thumping with fear of getting caught, and, she couldn't lie, some excitement as well. The closer they walked to the exit, the less scared and more excited she became.

The situation in the lobby was similar, even though the main entrance was lit brighter than the rest of the hospital, due to the light from the outside lamps reaching inside, it didn't prove to be a problem, with the trench coat, Billy appeared as a normal person leaving the building. The Walrider pushed him out the door, and just several feet away, the young man raised his voice

"Oh, so you're not here to kill me yourself, you're just gonna throw me to the wolves! Fuckin' awesome, man!"

But the swarm shoved him forward and kept pushing him through the parking lot.

"Holy crap, I can't believe we made it!" Alyssa couldn't hide her excitement nor the wide smirk on her face, and threw a glance back at the dark hospital.

Once they'd reached the car, the Walrider pushed Billy on the backseat, then sat at the driver's seat, so Alyssa had to take the passenger seat, but she couldn't ignore the increasingly worried and scared expression on the young man's face as they left the parking lot and hit the road.

She had a bad feeling about this, she looked over at the Walrider, who seemed dead serious and silent, making her even more hesitant to talk, but she pushed herself to speak timidly

"Do we really have to do this to him?.. I mean.. isn't there at least anything we can do for him first?"

But Billy answered before him, in an almost urgent tone "I wanna see mom! Shit, shit, I gotta see mom, I gotta.." his voice faded as he ran his hands down his face, and Alyssa gave him a sympathetic look

"Can we take him to his mother, at least? Just in case he.. I mean if things go really bad.."

The Walrider remained silent for a few seconds, increasing Alyssa's tension, then she grabbed and secured her seat belt when he suddenly took a sharp turn on a road back towards the city suburb.

Initially, she assumed Billy's mother lived there, but she grew confused when they reached the suburbia and pulled over on the sidewalk, outside of a fast food restaurant. Some of the tables were situated outside, occupied by a fair number of customers, while the lighting was moderate, due to the late hour and light coming from inside the restaurant, as well as the street lamps, and between the restaurant yard and the sidewalk on which they parked stood a three-foot-tall hedge fence.

Apart from the window on the Walrider's side sliding down slightly, nothing seemed to be happening, Alyssa looked around suspiciously, but Billy spoke up before she did

"The fuck are we doing here?"

She looked back at him and shrugged, she felt hesitant to start talking, which wasn't the case for Billy, as he stated plainly

"I'm hungry."

Alyssa's shoulders went up slightly when she started feeling the Walrider's annoyance rise to noticeable levels, as well as seeing his hand squeeze on the steering wheel, but she didn't dare say anything, and only hoped Billy wasn't going to do anything stupid.

A minute later, she blinked when the Walrider cracked the door at his side open, only to close it again, but everything clicked in her mind when he reached down and tossed a phone in her lap

"Billy is going to use this to contact Murkoff."

Upon picking up the device, she noticed it was an older model phone "So that's what you were looking for. You really need to stop stealing people's things." She said with a small smirk, but continued as she recalled he was in a very serious mood "But I guess it's necessary right now."

She barely got her last word out when Billy suddenly spoke louder "I'm staaarviiing!"

Immediately, the Walrider aggressively turned back to him, making both Alyssa and her heart jump, but she quickly intervened "I-I'll go buy him something, I'll be just a minute!"

Before the swarm could say anything, she slipped out of the car and jogged over to the restaurant entrance. She knew she made a rash decision, but she genuinely started to fear for Billy's safety if he kept testing the Walrider's short patience. She figured he wouldn't kill him, since they needed his help, but she didn't doubt he would hurt him if he found reason enough, and from what she could sense, he was close to finding it.

The young man's reckless behavior made her wonder if he, as the Walrider's former host, could sense his anger as she could, or if he ever could when he was his current host. But even if he was oblivious to it, Billy knew the Walrider better than she did, he knew how volatile he was, she questioned why he would not be more cautious, especially since he wasn't his host anymore, but then she recalled that the young man was not entirely mentally sound, after all.

A few minutes later, she returned to the car with a few burgers in a paper bag, her hand slightly shook as she moved it past the Walrider and handed the bag to Billy, then she grabbed for the seat belt again when the car abruptly accelerated.

"Sweet! Can have like a last supper before I get fucking crucified, thanks." Billy said with a smile and began stuffing his mouth with a burger. Alyssa gave him an odd look of pity and confusion, she wasn't sure what to say, he then looked to the Walrider and spoke again, with some trouble, as his mouth was filled with food "Like those other guys, 'member? Man, did Father Martin fuck em up. All for you, man! He really thought you were a god or something, hah!" he laughed and some food bits dropped on his lap "Like I said, if I was you I would've totally ran with it, would've been hilarious."

Alyssa bit her lip nervously, she had hoped that getting Billy some food would've made him go quiet, but that didn't seem to be the case, she sneaked a peek at the Walrider, whose hands were tightly gripped on the steering wheel, but neither of them said anything as the young man continued

"Would've ordered him to like, carve 'I gobble dicks' with a scalpel on his chest then get in his underwear and walk around on his arms while singing kumbaya. Y'know, cause your god commands you or some shit like that? Bet he would've done it." He said in an increasingly high-pitched tone until he busted out laughing, bending over and bumping his head against the back of the driver's seat.

Alyssa bit down on her lip even harder and physically tensed up, she didn't deny that she found the sudden absurd image somewhat amusing, but she was far too worried about Billy's safety to show it. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the Walrider's right hand slowly lifting off of the steering wheel a couple inches, but to her surprise, it was slightly shaking, indicating the high amount of effort he was making in order to restrain himself. She quickly leaned over and placed both hands over his, pushing it back on the steering wheel, and whispered tensely

"Remember, he's not all there mentally, and we need him!"

He slowly nodded once, and Alyssa leaned back in her seat as Billy's laughter finally started to settle down almost a minute later.

Much to her chagrin, the silence hadn't lasted long, as soon, he suddenly spoke up again "Hey remember when you were a boring old fuck and didn't wanna do that competition? God that sucked."

Alyssa's heart began thumping slightly faster in fear again, but the thought struck her that perhaps if she engaged in conversation with him, it wouldn't seem as if he was constantly talking uselessly and annoying everyone, so she looked back at him and forced a small smile

"What.. competition, Billy?"

"Oh it was, uh.. what was it, three months ago? Some dumbass doctor forgot to seal the doors behind him or whatever they were doing to keep us in, and we got out! I wanted to see who could fuck up more people before our nanites crapped out, but he was too busy sulking in the corner so I had to do all the work. Fuckin' seven-zero for me that day, man, that was boring."

Even the forced smile on Alyssa's face faded as she listened to his story, she reminded herself that he was mentally ill, and he had killed Murkoff employees who were responsible for the torment he had been subjected to in the asylum, but she still couldn't help the distaste she felt.

The Walrider's sudden voice slightly took her by surprise, however "Our nanites did not 'crap out', Billy, they brought in EMP generators to disable them, the same types as the ones below the Morphogenic Engine that I had been tediously sabotaging for weeks with a minuscule number of nanites and precision that you cannot begin to fathom."

Billy stared ahead silently for a few seconds "Oh." He paused briefly before he continued "I still got 'em all."

The Walrider shook his head slowly "A bloodbath can calm the wrath sometimes, but at the end of the day, it did me no good as long as you were still immobile."

Billy rolled his eyes at his statement "Riiight… Well, I'm mobile now, since you don't wanna kill me, wanna do a rematch?"

His question quickly raised Alyssa's concerns, but she relaxed when the Walrider spoke in a strict tone "No. You are going to lure Murkoff, and if you survive, you are going back to the hospital."

She noticed the expression on the young man's face was almost a pout "But-" he started, then both of them jumped when the swarm suddenly snapped

"One more word, Billy, and I will shatter every bone in your legs from the inside!" he nearly shouted in his unnaturally gravelly, almost demonic voice, and everything went silent.

Alyssa swallowed, only hearing her heart thumping in her ears, the young man looked mostly annoyed, but she could distinguish some fear on his face as well, he looked out the window while she prayed he wouldn't open his mouth again, and despite his mental shortcomings, he did understand that it was for the best to remain quiet, so he said nothing else.

She was relieved when she sensed the Walrider's ire slowly but surely decrease the more they drove in silence, and once she was relaxed enough, she partially suppressed a small yawn, reminding her of the late hour and her lack of sleep.

Eventually, they reached another suburbia, and on its outskirt, they stopped right outside of a large open area populated by many trailer homes. Without saying a word, Billy got out of the car and began walking towards them. Alyssa looked over at the Walrider, who only leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly ready to wait, but she spoke up

"Come on, let's not leave him alone, it's dark and who knows who could be creeping around in a place like this."

Stepping out of the car, she followed Billy after making sure the Walrider was behind her. A few minutes later, she noticed they were starting to walk in circles, and began wondering if he had forgotten where exactly his mother lived.

"Can you remember which home it was, Billy?" she whispered glancing around as he scratched the back of his head.

"Wait, wait, wait…" he said louder than would be suitable for the location and time of the night, then rushed to the right down a pathway.

When the other two caught up with him, they found him pushing against the door of one of the trailer homes; it did budge, but refused to open, which made him start to throw himself against the door, shoulder-first.

"Christ, Billy, wait! What if it's not even the right door-" she whispered urgently, but he paid her no mind, and after a few hits that weakened the door, he gave it a couple of kicks and it swung fully open, immediately followed by the scream and unfamiliar voice of a woman

"Who's there?! Get out or I'll get my gun!"

Alyssa began stepping back upon hearing the warning, even if not directed at her, until the Walrider pulled her behind him, but Billy walked inside, his voice sounding rather emotional, almost sad

"Mom?.. Mom, it's me."

The woman was heard again, speaking with clear disbelief "Billy?.." after a light was flicked on, she almost shouted "Oh, Billy!" Rushing to her son, the woman hugged him tightly "I thought I'd never see you again! Oh, my boy!"

From outside, a small smile grew on Alyssa's face as she listened to the endearing reunion continue, it quickly reminded her of her mother, but she decided to push the thought away, wanting to be content with being happy for the mother and her son, instead of getting depressed over her own situation.

Soon, she wasn't surprised to hear Billy cry in his mother's arms, it did make her somewhat sad, but she knew it was better than for him to never see her. Almost immediately, she remembered it was possible that he really would never see her again, if he didn't survive the incoming encounter with Murkoff, and that realization, coupled with the sobbing she heard as his mother tried to console him, made her heart ache with sorrow.

She swallowed, hesitantly reaching for the Walrider's hand and squeezing it lightly, which drew his attention, making him turn and look down at her expectantly

"Let's bring him back safely… Please." She spoke in a whisper, and was slightly surprised when he squeezed her hand back, but his words made her heart even heavier

"I do not make promises I cannot keep, Alyssa."

Her gaze drifted to the dusty ground and a soft sigh left her, the reunion of the mother and son, as emotional as it was, reminded her of the fact that Billy was only one patient, from one asylum, she didn't even want to think about how many other people like him there were out there, separated from their families and abused in secret while no one from the outside had a clue, and those who did have a clue, either could do nothing, or refused to do anything. With the exception, of course, of Waylon Park.

 _And look what they're doing to him and his family for it…_

Sensing her escalating sadness, the Walrider decided to interrupt her misery "This is why we are doing this." Alyssa looked up at him with some confusion as he continued "So that this will not happen again. Murkoff has to crumble to the ground, it will not be easy, and it will not be fast, but in order to succeed, there will have to be sacrifices."

She watched him for a few moments, but then her gaze dropped back down and she spoke timidly "No.. You're doing it because they're after us.."

"I-" He started, but she shook her head and interjected

"No, I'm sorry.. There are multiple reasons, I know.. And this is one of the biggest ones, as far as I'm concerned."

Even though she still hoped no sacrifices would have to be made that night, she understood what he meant, it made her feel more willing to take the risks required to make sure the corporation would never be able to do anything like this again, and in turn, lessened her sadness.

A minute later, she began growing slightly curious, and took a step to the side to peek inside, hoping it would not be too rude. The dim lighting and angle made the interior less than clear, she could tell that it was a modest home, that did not surprise her, what did surprise her, however, were the five glassy figurines lined up on a dresser that she noticed after light from outside shone over them, making them sparkle with remarkable brilliance that she'd never seen before on objects made out of simple glass or crystal.

A faint puzzled frown set on her face, but her curiosity was interrupted when Billy suddenly walked out the door, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his coat

"Let's get this shit over with." He said, trying to sound composed, and without another word, they all returned to the car.

Alyssa stayed mostly quiet as they drove further and further away from the suburbs until they reached a road splitting the open empty fields. The fact that there were barely any cars passing by raised some concerns, the situation was too similar to when the Parks and her were ambushed, and the late hour and lack of light only made her feel worse.

Her eyelids drooped, she was sleepy, but the more they drove, the less calm she felt, she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes and risk falling asleep even for a few minutes. In an attempt to occupy herself, she opened the glove compartment and very hesitantly picked up the camcorder she used at the asylum. Flinching slightly when she looked through the viewfinder and flipped the nightvision on, she watched the street lamps outside pass by, along with the tall green and yellow vegetation for a few minutes; it was not an interesting sight, and it was not doing a good job at distracting her.

With a small yawn, she lowered the device as she noticed they entered what she wasn't even sure could be classified as a small town, since there were so few buildings around, and the car was parked by a small group of older vehicles.

"Out." The Walrider suddenly said before she asked anything, and she complied, as did Billy, albeit reluctantly.

"The fuck are we doing here?" Billy said with clear annoyance, but the swarm shoved him forward down the road

"Shut up and keep moving."

Alyssa followed at his side as they started walking down the road until all she could see in every direction were the dark open fields. She had to admit to herself, she was growing annoyed as well, it was one thing to sit in the car as he drove, but a whole other to keep walking in the middle of the night, plus being tired and sleepy while doing so.

Still, she quickly figured that complaining about it wasn't going to do anyone any good, so she decided to refrain from it. She was somewhat glad that on a whim, she decided to take the camcorder with her, as she idly looked through it at the dark surroundings, illuminating them in green artificial light.

Eventually, after what felt like far too much walking in the gentle but relatively chilly night wind, the hooded swarm suddenly stepped aside, into the field. Alyssa hesitantly followed, as the tall vegetation reached her thighs, and mumbled to herself

"Ugh, I swear, if I step in some coyote poop…"

A silent minute later, the Walrider's voice slightly startled her "Wait here, Billy."

The young man grumbled something under his breath but complied, and Alyssa blinked when the swarm grabbed her wrist and began pulling her away. It wasn't long until she realized they were beginning to go up an increasingly steep hill, she looked through the camcorder ahead, spotting with some difficulty what she assumed was the top of it. When she looked back at the Walrider, however, the nightvision allowed her to easily notice the nanites flowing off of him; gradually, the shape of the clothes dispersed away, as well as a significant portion of his skin, exposing almost half of his skeleton.

She swallowed, having a strong suspicion why he would need so many nanites in the air, but he interrupted her before her mind could start racing with frightening scenarios.

"Listen to me very closely, Alyssa.." his tone took her by surprise, however, he sounded serious, but at the same time, almost considerate "I will do everything I can to ensure no EMPs will activate, but I cannot guarantee it, and in turn, I cannot guarantee your safety."

Her expression quickly turned rather bleak and highly concerned upon hearing his words, her heart already began picking up its pace slightly, but she listened carefully as he continued "If I fail, I want you to run back to the car, back in town, stay near as many people as you can."

What sleepiness and annoyance she had left had entirely vanished, as it dawned on her how serious the situation was, she nodded slowly, but spoke under her breath "But.. what about you?"

He reached towards her neck and pulled the bandanna back up over her nose, then turned to look down the hill as he crouched and pulled her down as well "Without the nanites, there is little I can do to protect you, so-"

"No! I mean I can run away but what will happen to you?" she interjected, but he raised his voice slightly

"It doesn't matter! If you die, nothing will matter, do you understand?" he emphasized his last words as he leaned towards her, and she nodded quickly, but the deeply concerned and somewhat sad expression did not leave her face.

"Remain here, I will make sure Billy does his part." He said, and without another word, floated down the hill and over to Billy.

Through the camcorder's nightvision, Alyssa could watch them talk, but due to the distance, she couldn't understand what they were saying. A couple minutes later, she noticed the Walrider pressing some buttons on the cell phone he had stolen, then handing it to Billy, who placed it to his ear, and then, as if flipping a switch, her heart started thumping heavily, but she tried to remain as alert as she could.

Taking a deep breath to make up for her increasingly shallow nervous breathing, she kept her eyes on the young man as he talked on the phone to an unknown recipient, she could see him gesturing as he spoke, but still couldn't quite distinguish what he was saying, despite the fact that he occasionally raised his voice.

After what felt like a few very tense and nerve-wracking minutes, he finally hung up the phone, only to shout "They're comiiiing!" in an eerily excited tone and manner, slightly deepening the already very concerned frown on Alyssa's face.

 _What the hell, Billy…_

The wait for him to finish talking on the phone had felt painfully long, but as minutes kept passing, she realized it had been nothing compared to the wait for Murkoff to arrive. In apprehension, she crouched down even further, until she had trouble getting a clear view of the area below the hill, due to the vegetation around her. Every once in a while, a single car would pass by, on the distant road, which she could only distinguish by the headlights, and would raise her alarms every time until it drove far away, she had to keep reminding herself that Murkoff were not likely to arrive in a single car.

On another day, the slightly chilly but gentle wind rustling the tall grass would've calmed her nerves, but in this case, it did not help, the faint whistle of the wind combined with her stubborn heart whose quick pace refused to slow down were the only noises she could hear.

Looking around through the camcorder, she was only unsettled further when she failed to find the shape of the Walrider, even though she knew he was nearby and that he needed as many nanites as possible, seeing a physical manifestation of him had an oddly calming effect on her.

A heavy sigh left her as slowly but surely, she allowed herself to admit that she was a lot more worried about him than she judged she should have been. It was obvious to her that he was planning to massacre whoever would show up if he successfully disabled the EMPs, yet she couldn't help feeling concerned with his safety. The resulting guilt was hard to suppress, but she didn't bother attempting it anymore, she was tired, especially tired of the conflicting emotions and confusion, so she accepted it.

Still, she contemplated the possibility of being so worried about him due to the link between their lives, he was the only real protection between herself and Murkoff, so if she lost him, it would only be a matter of time until she lost her own life. That much was true, but as easier to accept as that reason was for her, she would be lying if she said it was the biggest one. She only dwelled on it for a short while, telling herself it was not the right time to sort out inappropriate feelings, then her mind returned to thoughts of her family, and if she was going to live to see them again.

As tempting as it was to succumb to desperation, she recalled the number of times she had been seconds from death before, in the asylum, and how she overcame those seemingly hopeless situations. The pessimistic part of her told her that her escape from death's grip multiple times had only been luck or the result of someone else's actions, but the more optimistic side of her mind insisted that no matter how severe the problem you're stuck in, there's always a chance to make it out in one piece, and the fact that she was there, alive and well, was proof of it.

Her mental debate was interrupted when suddenly, she spotted a light approaching from the road in the distance. To her dread, she noticed it was a pair of headlights, followed by another pair, and another, and another, she quickly grew too frightened to keep her calm and continue counting the incoming vehicles.

Her grip on the camcorder became weak, but she held it with a trembling hand and looked down the hill, seeing Billy standing up from the ground, then quickly returned her gaze to the approaching cars while trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest.


	29. Chapter 29

Once they drove close enough, Alyssa's eyes grew wider as she could distinguish eight silver trucks whose trailers consisted of peculiar segmented grey cylinders. As far as she could tell from the distance and in darkness, both the trucks and the trailers behind them were massive in size, barely fitting on a street lane, heavily custom built and clearly high-tech even to her amateur eyes. Despite the uneven, grassy terrain and the size of the vehicles, they maneuvered around Billy with startling precision, surrounding him in almost every direction.

Behind them, another vehicle approached, resembling a military van, trailed by a normal looking black car, both of which soon came to a halt.

From up on the hill, Alyssa watched the scene unfold with bated breath.

 _Are the EMPs inside those giant trucks?.._ Her pondering was cut short when suddenly, a group of men armed with silenced assault rifles stepped out of the van, their black uniforms reminding her of special forces soldiers, similar to the ones she had seen at the asylum, but not identical.

To her horror, they quickly spread out and stepped towards Billy, pointing their guns at him and ordering him not to move a muscle.

Alyssa's heart skipped a beat, for a few long moments, she was convinced that they were about to kill him, yet nothing was happening, it almost seemed to her that they were waiting for something, and when she glanced back towards the black car, some of her confusion was alleviated.

From inside it stepped out a woman, slender in frame, with short black hair, wearing a dark pantsuit and a white high-collared shirt, but the casual manner in which she walked towards Billy took Alyssa aback, she moved almost as if she was taking a stroll through the park on a sunny morning. Zooming in closer as much as she could, Alyssa followed the woman with her gaze as she approached the armed men but remained behind them.

 _Must be their boss…_ A subconscious scowl grew on her face as she watched her, it was difficult to tell with certainty due to the darkness and distance, and the nightvision camcorder could only do so much, but she could've almost sworn that the Murkoff woman's expression was as relaxed as her gait.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to all of the new arrivals, the Walrider had begun infiltrating the EMP transport trucks the moment they had gotten within range. Fortunately for him, a few of the drivers had their windows down, so sending an invisible swarm inside was not a problem, but in the case of the others whose windows were sealed, the nanites had to take the time to chew through the glass and reach the controls of the EMP devices. Now, it was up to Billy to do his part, to distract the Murkoff employees and buy them time.

"You've been a naughty boy, Billy." Pauline spoke to him in a tone as if speaking to a child, but he didn't seem to react

"What're you doin' here?" he questioned plainly, and the woman cocked her head to the side curiously

"That's what _I_ should be asking you. How did you get here?"

"Took a hike." He shrugged casually, but Pauline smirked slightly, knowing full well that he was hiding something

"This isn't the time to play, Billy." The somewhat sweet tone she previously held diminished, turning more serious "Where is the swarm? What is going on, you can't possibly still be the host, yet here you are. You must've had help to come all the way over here…" the woman paused briefly and glanced around, not expecting to see anything in the darkness, but it still made Alyssa's heart skip a beat, then almost stop as she spoke again, raising her voice "There has to be another host… Right?"

Alyssa's eyes shot wide open, that was all she needed to hear to raise her alarms, her shaking hand dropped the camcorder in fear, but she quickly grabbed it before it could tumble down the hill or she would lose it in the vegetation.

"I'd be more careful if I were you, lady, we've been pretty pissed off lately." Billy raised his voice slightly too, and Pauline's confident expression wavered only for a moment, she raised her hand to the microphone and speaker at her ear, whispering without taking her eyes off of the young man

"Ready for launch?"

"That's a negative, ma'am, ETA one minute." One of the drivers inside the EMP trucks replied as he watched the computer display on the dashboard

"Hurry it up."

"We can't rush the charging process ma'am, I highly recommend we open fire, this isn't safe."

Pauline raised her voice only slightly, but her irritation was clear "Listen asshole, first off, Hope is much more valuable to us alive than dead, secondly, if he isn't the host, we kill him, lose our only good test subject, and the Walrider is still a problem, thirdly, if he is the host and we kill him, then the Walrider will use one of us just to tear us apart and we've fucked up everything. The best solution is to disable the nanobots with the EMP, did I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'-" the man quickly replied, but she cut him off

"Then shut your face!" Taking a step forward towards Billy, she cleared her throat and spoke again, with calm confidence "I know you've been through a lot, Billy…" but the boy snapped back

"Don't patronize me!"

"That's not my intention at all, come on, don't be ridiculous, you need to be in the hospital."

In the EMP trucks, the nanobots relentlessly chewed at the parts inside, tearing through the cables connecting the devices to the controls on the dashboards, disintegrating pieces of hardware, yet it wasn't fast enough for the Walrider's liking, he did not trust that Billy could keep Pauline busy for much longer. The risk of the EMPs going off and leaving him powerless to protect Alyssa was too great, pushing him towards the decision of retracting the nanites from the other trucks and focusing a greater amount on one at a time, in the hopes that it would make the process fast enough that he could disable them all before it was too late.

"I'm tired of this shit…" Billy said, sounding oddly sincere, and making a fake, kind smile grow on Pauline's face

"I know you are, you don't have to keep running. Come on, let's take you back to your mother."

Her smile widened ever so slightly when she noticed the hopeful expression on the young man's face upon hearing her words. She signaled him to approach her, and he slowly began stepping towards her, but she spoke again, in the same sweet tone

"Where is the Walrider, Billy?"

He stopped in his tracks at her question, but she continued "Is it close? We just don't want it to hurt anyone again."

Despite his mental issues, Billy knew full well that she was lying, he knew Murkoff had no intention to take him to his mother, but he had to keep the woman busy for as long as he could until the Walrider disabled the EMPs and then the armed men as well, otherwise he was well aware that they were going to take him back to some other undercover institution and continue the experiments.

Suddenly, the urgent voice of the truck driver came in through Pauline's earpiece "Ready to fire, ma'am!" but she quickly responded

"Hold your fire! We need to make sure the swarm is in range first." It pleased her to see the expression on Billy's face turn worried, she smiled and began taking steps back.

Hearing the woman's orders raised the Walrider's alarms, it was exactly what he'd feared, only six of the eight EMPs had been disabled, and the seventh one was not going to be done fast enough.

"Spread out! Find the other host!"

If he had a physical heart, Pauline's new order would've made it skip a beat, he watched as the armed men ignored Billy and began searching the field with their nightvision goggles. He knew she was only trying to make sure the EMP would not detonate in vain, she was trying to lure him out, prove that he was within range of the incoming blast so that they could pull the trigger.

As enraged as it made him, he also knew he had no choice, Alyssa was not far away, it was only a matter of time until they found her, a short matter of time, and if they did, it was likely that they would kill her. Despite the fact that Billy was still there, the possibility of taking his time to disable all of the EMPs then use Billy as a host again if they found and killed Alyssa didn't even cross his mind, all he felt was the urge to massacre every Murkoff agent in the vicinity.

Without a moment wasted, he was pleased to oblige Pauline's request of showing himself, the risk of the remaining EMPs still remained, but the risk to Alyssa's safety was too great to ignore. Gathering his nanites, he only formed his skeleton, keeping the rest close by in a relatively dense swarm, then flew towards the closest Murkoff mercenary, grabbing the man, who started screaming and firing his weapon wildly in mid-air, before he was swiftly silenced as he was torn in half.

"Contact!" another soldier shouted as blood and guts splattered down on them, followed by Pauline's shout, who quickly started backing away further

"Now! Pull the trigger, it's here!"

The panicked men inside the trucks immediately pushed the buttons to detonate the EMPs while another soldier's scream was heard and their silenced weapons fired in vain at the swarm, but much to the dread of the drivers, most of the devices did not go off no matter how many times they kept retrying.

"What the shit?!" one of them said then jumped as a powerful shockwave rattled the large truck he was in when a man was slammed against the side of the vehicle.

From up on the hill, Alyssa was too terrified to care about watching what was going on anymore, she went prone in the tall vegetation when the corporate soldiers were ordered to start searching for her, and then covered her ears tightly when the Walrider began taking action, but the screams and sounds of flesh and bones being torn apart were still audible to her.

Just when she thought things couldn't get more frightening as the gunshots and panic continued, her heart almost failed her when she suddenly heard it; a brief, very high-pitched tone, followed by a blast of a deep buzzing sound, so intense that she could almost feel its vibration inside her organs, lasting over ten seconds as it gradually faded.

Her trembling jaw dropped in horror, she raised her head off the ground, fearing the worst.

 _That must've been... Oh my god…_

For what felt like the longest minute of her life, the entire chaos died down, the remaining soldiers regrouped, and by that time, Pauline had retreated into the armored van they had arrived in, while Billy took advantage of the chaotic situation to get down on the ground and crawl some distance away, hidden in the tall vegetation.

Then, the relative silence was suddenly disturbed by a low breathy eerie growl, raising the hairs on the back of Alyssa's neck, as well as making the mercenaries freeze. After their initial shock wore off, the fear remained, very slowly and cautiously, they began searching around with their nightvision goggles, but were still unable to detect the black cloud of nanites from before.

"What in the f-fuck was _that_?.. Boss?" one of the armed men said and threw a glance over his shoulder, but failed to find Pauline "Ms. Glick?!" he turned to one of his comrades, who was looking around in fright "What the shit is going on?.." he whispered, but the man shook his head and spoke with caution

"Not sure, but I didn't sign up for this…"

Everyone remained scared and alert, including Alyssa, but for different reasons, as the silence took over again, only disturbed by occasional gusts of wind rustling the tall grass.

Unbeknownst to all but the Walrider, the two EMP blasts had done a mixture of temporary and permanent damage, the simultaneous pulses had not been powerful enough to destroy the entire swarm, but they had managed to damage a number of nanites beyond salvation, as well as incapacitating almost all of them for a period of time.

That time, however, eventually came to an end before the soldiers had gotten close to his host, so without a second wasted, he began regathering the still functioning nanites as soon as they recovered from the electromagnetic pulse. As expected, however, the swarm was smaller now, but he still reshaped his skeleton and resumed what was started.

Emerging from behind one of the trucks, he lunged towards the group of soldiers, jamming his bony hands through the necks of two before anyone was able to react. Once they realized what just happened, the bullets started flying again as they scattered away. Even though most calibers would usually do minimal harm, he decided enough nanites had been lost already and the risk of losing more was not acceptable, so in an attempt to prevent more irreparable damage, he used the two limp bodies as human shields on each side while the blood continued to flow down his arms from the holes in their necks.

For a brief moment, the mercenaries stopped firing, so he took the opportunity to toss the bodies at them, to the left and right. The corpses knocked the targeted men over, but before one of them could fully get back up on his feet, the Walrider lunged towards him, followed by the dark flowing cloud of nanites, and without stopping, snapped the man's neck, turning his face to his back.

The two remaining corporate soldiers stuck together, but seeing their proximity and the black armored van in the vicinity gave the Walrider an idea to finish the entire mess faster. Ignoring their firing, he quickly flew towards the vehicle, wrapped some nanites around a few edges, then flipped and tossed it over the two, silencing them and their weapons.

With the squad of seven eliminated, he glanced around for any remaining potential threats, but all of the drivers of the trucks had taken advantage of the chaotic situation to drive away with the trucks that still functioned.

After a quick scan and realizing that all threats had been eliminated, he gathered the nanites in the vicinity and reconstructed his skin on top of his skeleton, the microscopic machines were mixed with blood, but he paid it no mind. Just as he was about to head to the top of the hill to check on Alyssa, Billy suddenly stood up from among the tall vegetation, and approached with a long whistle

"Fuckin' 'ell man, that was messy. As usual."

But the Walrider signaled him towards the road "Enough of this, return to the car."

"Wish I could've helped, kinda missing it, y'know, but I think I got a bit rusty."

"Billy." The swarm stated sternly, and the young man waved a hand dismissively

"Alright, alright.. But I think _she's_ got a problem with me leaving."

From atop the hill, Alyssa's heavily thumping heart finally began to return to normal as the chaos ended and the quiet calm took over. Cautiously standing up, she looked around through the camcorder to make sure it was safe to move, then heard the Walrider and Billy talking, the distance didn't allow her to fully understand what they were saying, but the fact that Billy was standing there speaking casually and all the firing and screaming had stopped made her feel it was safe enough to leave her hiding spot.

Carefully, she began making her way down the hill, minding her step, briefly glancing down when she tripped over a rock or placed her foot on unsteady ground. She was almost at the base of the hill, when she noticed a figure moving several meters ahead, making her freeze for a moment, then crouch down and hide behind the vegetation.

Once the figure passed her, she raised herself just enough to observe the situation; through the camcorder, she noticed the person was the Murkoff woman from before, she was approaching the Walrider and Billy, and to her horror, she was holding a pistol in one hand, aimed at Billy, and an odd device in her other hand, that was shaped like a cylindrical detonator with a button at the top, near her thumb.

 _What the…_

A frightened frown grew on her face as she watched the woman walk towards the two, with concerning confidence, but she remained hidden and silent as she heard her voice

"I hope you've had your fun, because you're going back to your cages, both of you." Pauline said coldly, and the Walrider turned to look at her over his shoulder

"Do you have a death wish, _Pauline?_ " the swarm said in a similar manner, but a slight arrogant smile set on the woman's face at his words

"Oh? So you know my name. I'm flattered."

"I know far more than you'd like." He said as he turned to face her, and the woman exhaled

"Look, I'm not sure what you are, and I don't really care, my job is to get you back in your cage. The boy too, ideally." she signaled with her pistol towards Billy, then slowly raised the cylindrical device in her hand, hovering her thumb over the button on its top "So then, I don't suppose you know what this is.."

"Oh, please, do enlighten us." Billy said mockingly, but the Walrider's guard quickly went back up when he realized it seemed that she was holding a kind of detonator.

"My pleasure… I didn't come here without a backup plan. There are four EMPs left here, you have prevented most from going off, congratulations, but, they have a failsafe." She held the detonator to her side, keeping her finger just an inch above the trigger "You see this button here? I press this, and the blast will incapacitate the nanobots long enough for me to find and put a bullet through both Billy's and your host's head. I know she's close, I know how it works…"

The more the woman spoke, the stronger the Walrider's urge to tear her limb from limb was, but he couldn't risk it if she was indeed telling the truth, he made a great effort to refrain from lunging at her, and only growled one word venomously

"Continue…"

A faint smirk set on the woman's face upon hearing him, further increasing his rage, but she complied calmly "I have a proposition." She paused for a moment, but continued when they looked at her expectantly "I don't _have_ to kill her. And I don't have to kill Billy, he's our only successful subject as of yet. I don't know what ability the girl has, but clearly her body and mind are compatible with the swarm. We need that, we need to know why, what makes it click, we need to study it, which is exactly what we were doing at Mount Massive with Billy before everything went to shit. But of course, two subjects are far better than one, I'm not a scientist, but I know the boys in the labs would be drooling at the opportunity to have both of them."

The Walrider's fist clenched like a vice, the mental image of Alyssa strapped down and subjected to the gruesome experiments he'd witnessed countless patients go through at the asylum threatened to break his self-control, but he reminded himself that he couldn't take the risk that Pauline was lying about the EMP failsafe.

"So, here's the deal, monster..." the woman continued, slightly lowering her finger over the detonator button "You bring us your host, we give her and Billy to the science department, they study them and make extraordinary scientific advancements.." Billy rolled his eyes at her words and muttered some cusses ".. _Or_ I activate these EMPs, the pulse takes you out just long enough for me to fetch one of those helmets of these dead mercs to see in the dark and find your host within seconds in this open field, kill both her and Billy, then hop over in my car and leave while you go back to hell. How's that sound?"

For the first time in eons, the Walrider felt powerless and figuratively trapped. He didn't move an inch as his mind raced for solutions, but everything he thought of seemed too dangerous. The widening sly smirk on the woman's face brought him to the brink of snapping, taking the gamble that she was completely bluffing and tearing her apart, yet he still couldn't entirely bring himself to risk it. For a moment, he considered that death would be a better fate for Alyssa than being dragged kicking and screaming to a secret laboratory and experimented on, he knew far too well what kind of inhumane treatments she would be subjected to from what he'd witnessed both in the Mount Massive asylum and previous institutions. However, the thought of her being shot to death by this woman enraged him further, he would have even preferred to kill her himself if it was absolutely necessary, but as necessary and hopeless as it seemed, he still felt himself unable to attack Pauline, whose patience seemed to be running low.

Several meters behind, hidden and crouching, Alyssa felt petrified, her wide eyes stared at the three figures ahead through the nightvision, which was beginning to fade due to the draining camcorder battery, proving that the situation could get even worse, she would soon be left in the dark. Her breath almost froze in her lungs entirely in fear, she felt stuck, both literally and figuratively, her terrified body refused to move, while her mind raced with scenarios of either certain death or horrific torture inside some other Murkoff institution.

Then, the Murkoff woman's demanding voice partially snapped her out of it "Well? I don't have all night."

Alyssa's heart threatened to give up on her as she understood that they were almost out of time, and very soon, she would either be kidnapped and made to regret the day she was born, or she would be shot to death, and this time, she would stay dead, this time, the Walrider would not be able to bring her back.

Either options were completely unacceptable, her shocked mind finally allowed her to convince herself that there had to be something she could do, she had to stop the woman, she had to sneak up behind her and somehow grab the device from her hand without either of them pressing the button on purpose or accidentally, and the fact that she was armed only added to the risk factor.

Forcing herself to move, her trembling foot took a step forward, as quietly as she possibly could, followed by another, and another; she heard Billy say something, but she was far too focused to pay attention to anything other than being dead silent in her approach. Moments later, she almost stumbled on something laying on the ground, she tried to step over it, but it proved larger than anticipated, and when she looked down, she almost gasped upon seeing the lower half of a torn up mercenary body. As gruesome as the sight was, she quickly noticed the pistol in the holster on the corpse's leg, and the idea struck her immediately.

With trembling fingers, she reached down and picked up the weapon, holding it in her right hand and switching the camcorder over to her left hand, but neither of them were steady. Very cautiously, she raised the pistol and pointed it at the Murkoff woman, then checked to make sure her bandanna was still properly covering her face. Taking another, less quiet step forward alerted the woman of her presence, who quickly turned around partially to face her as she still kept her pistol aimed at Billy, but Alyssa spoke up first

"Drop it, lady. Both the gun, and the other thing." She tried to keep her voice steady and not allow her fear and nervousness to show, but she failed miserably, the surprise on Pauline's face only lasted for a moment, as she quickly seemed to recompose herself.

"Oh? So we finally meet, miss..?" she said casually, completely ignoring Alyssa's demand

"I'm not kidding! Drop them both, right now!" Alyssa raised her voice, yet the other woman continued to defy her

"We've been searching for you for quite some time now.. Mr. Park as well. Split up, have you?" Pauline said with an almost eerie calm, seemingly not at all intimidated by the fact that she had a gun pointed at her face, decreasing Alyssa's fear and increasing her annoyance

"Are you deaf, Murkoff bitch?!" she pulled the pistol's hammer back with her thumb, then the woman spoke up with a slightly raised voice and in a significantly more serious tone

"Oh, please. What are you going to do, kid? Kill me? Do you seriously think you have the guts to kill someone in cold blood and live with it?"

Alyssa swallowed and her scowl deepened, Pauline's words did make her resolve falter, but not for long.

 **_She is afraid._ **

The voice of the Walrider in her head startled her more than slightly in the tense situation, but she remembered how he told her that he could see people's emotions, and knowing that the woman was scared help to diminish her own fear.

Taking a deep breath, she raised the pistol closer to her eye level for more accuracy, then spoke with determination

"If I have to save my own skin... or theirs…" she threw a quick glance towards the Walrider and Billy, before taking aim at the woman's torso "Then I'll leave you in a red puddle, lady."

Almost immediately, the calm and collected expression on Pauline's face was replaced by a threatening scowl, Alyssa wasn't entirely sure if she spotted a twitch in the woman's finger over the detonator, but she couldn't bring herself to stop and make sure, she acted almost on reflex.

Her finger squeezed on the pistol's trigger, the muzzle flash illuminating the surroundings for a fraction of a second as the sound made her ears briefly ring and her shoulder was forced back by the recoil. The bullet pierced near the woman's shoulder, right below her clavicle, both the shock and pain making her drop her own pistol as well as the device in her other hand. Her body quickly followed, falling back on her side and immediately covering the wound with her hand as she grunted in pain.

Without a moment wasted, the Walrider took the opportunity to lunge at the woman and pull her up to her feet by the neck, using a swarm to search her body for any other hidden weapons or gadgets, but failed to find anything other than her phone.

Alyssa exhaled a sigh of immense relief, feeling her tense muscles relax upon realizing that they were now safe, her hand dropped the pistol, but the Walrider quickly instructed against it

"Alyssa, take that gun, don't leave your fingerprints behind."

Reaching down with a still unsteady hand, she picked up the weapon and turned the safety switch on before placing it in her backpack, she made an effort to calm herself more, but hearing the injured woman's painful whining did not help to put her nerves at ease.

"I did not anticipate a high level Murkoff employee to show up."

The woman looked up at him with a slight scowl, it didn't take her long to realize that struggling against his grip was not only futile but also making it more painful for her, so she quit attempting to escape.

"What can I say, I wanted a front row seat." Pauline rolled her eyes and looked away, in the direction of her car "I didn't expect it to turn into a shitshow of this caliber."

"Hah, caliber…" Billy suddenly interjected, briefly attracting everyone's attention "Uh.. Nice shot." He said towards Alyssa, who nodded, not quite comfortable with the compliment for almost killing someone with her own hands.

The Walrider turned his attention back to the woman "And yet…" he squeezed her neck slightly tighter "You are alone. Where is your partner, Paul?" he questioned, setting a puzzled frown on Alyssa's face, but Pauline spoke before she could

"Paul is… a little busy."

"Wait, what's going on? Who exactly is this woman?" Alyssa interrupted, and the Walrider turned to her

"This is Pauline Glick, a high security clearance Murkoff officer, but she works with her partner…" he pulled her up higher, until she had to stand on the tips of her toes in order to support some of her weight on the ground "He is visiting his ill daughter again, is he not?"

The woman's expression turned into a mixture of confusion and surprise upon hearing his words, but the frown remained on her face "What the.. now how the hell do you know _that_?"

"I told you, I know far more than you'd like. Murkoff had imprisoned my nanites, but not my mind. My consciousness resides in the fifth dimension, no boundaries can restrain me there, only the distance from the host limits me… You.. could blame Murkoff for my eavesdropping, I suppose, the corporation doesn't allow its employees to spend time with their families, so they tend to compensate for it by chattering about them incessantly instead. During containment breaches, I also helped myself to your computers, searching for security flaws, not expecting the trivialities I came across to ever prove useful, but… Tell me now, how is Mr. Bruce Ross doing, Pauline?"

Just within a few seconds, the woman's expression gradually turned into clear dread as he proceeded to tell her the man's precise home address, followed by the locations of other members of her family.

"Who's Bruce Ross? She looks like she's seen a ghost all of a sudden." Alyssa raised a curious eyebrow

"Her fiance." The Walrider said smugly, and Alyssa looked back at Pauline, she had to admit, seeing the arrogance wiped off her face was more than a little satisfying.

"If you lay a finger on him… On any of them…" Pauline started, but failed to summon her previous confidence.

"I may not. If you do as I say." The Walrider stated while the woman's breath grew noticeably deeper as she tried to keep herself composed

"What. do you want?" she asked in a demanding tone, through gritted teeth, while the scowl returned to her face, then whimpered in pain when he suddenly pushed her to the side

"I originally planned to capture one of your thugs, make them direct me to the highest superior they could, and keep working my way up like that. But you.. your desire for a 'front row seat' made my job a lot easier." He paused briefly as her glare deepened at the realization that she was partly responsible for her current situation "These two are not going to go with you, but you are going to come with us. You will work as a mole inside Murkoff, you will help us crumble the corporation from within."

"Wha-" Pauline almost shouted, but was quickly cut off

" _Unless_ you would prefer me to skin alive every member of your family and feed you the guts of your fiancé!"

Alyssa was slightly taken aback by his words, she wasn't sure if it was the threat itself, his voice, or both, but whatever it was, it made the woman go silent, and soon, barely move her head in a hesitant nod.

Without another word, he reached into the inside pocket of her coat, pulled her phone out, and twisted the object to pieces, beyond recognition. After another shove, she began walking towards the road in the distance, closely followed by the other three.

A soft sigh of relief left Alyssa, she was somewhat concerned about the woman being nearby, but she genuinely seemed terrified for the safety of her loved ones. The realization that that fact made her feel better left a bad taste in her mouth, but she was too relieved that the situation had ended without any casualties on their side to stress over it, despite all of them temporarily being on the brink of death.

"Now this is getting fun." Billy said with excitement that was cut short rather quickly by the Walrider

"Not so fast, Billy. You are going back to the hospital."

Judging by the young man's protesting expression, he did not agree with that at all, but Alyssa spoke up before he could start complaining

"W-wait, we can't take him back to the hospital, Murkoff might come after him! You heard, uh, Pauline, was it? She said they want Billy back, and if they can't have him, they'd rather kill him."

"That is none of my concern." The Walrider stated simply, and Billy's shoulders slumped

"Thanks man, really feeling the comradery and shit.." he said more to himself, placing his hands in his pockets, but Alyssa insisted

"It might not be, but what should be your concern is Murkoff using him to successfully create more nano swarms and use them as weapons!"

He looked down at her, only to see her looking at him with big, pleading eyes, he remained quiet for a few seconds, but as much as he disliked it, she was right, they could not afford to risk Murkoff recapturing Billy and developing more nanites that they could use against them, so, hesitantly, he gave in, and began using the nanobots inside Billy to heal his damaged organs

"Very well…"

As soon as he spoke, Billy almost shouted "Sweet! So where you guys live?"

Alyssa flashed a small smile "Over in Denver, I guess. You'll see-" her voice faded when suddenly, the Walrider stopped and grabbed Pauline by the back of her neck

"What the hell is it now?" the woman protested, but within seconds, she began feeling an odd tingling sensation throughout her body

"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked as she watched a confused and somewhat worried frown grow on Pauline's face

"I am searching her body for microchips."

Alyssa blinked in surprise and some concern as the understanding hit her, it wasn't unlikely for such a high-tech corporation to microchip at least their employees with higher security clearances, especially one as corrupt and nefarious as Murkoff.

Pauline winced, beginning to feel pain as the nanites rushed through her body in search for the microchip, but she decided it was not in her best interest to remain quiet, judging it was only a matter of time until he'd find it, increasingly unpleasant time, at that

"God damn it! Between C6 and C7!"

Slightly surprised at her cooperation, the Walrider retracted the nanites from most of her body, only focusing some near the mentioned vertebrae. It didn't take long until he found the tiny device, quickly plucked it out through the woman's skin, drawing a short painful scream from her, then disintegrating it.

"Asshole…" she mumbled to herself before raising her voice "I'm still bleeding from the gunshot here!"

"I have stopped your bleeding and will repair the damaged tissue just so you would be operational without drawing attention from your colleagues."

"How kind…" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, then winced in pain again as the Walrider pushed her forward and they resumed walking.

As they approached the road illuminated by street lamps, he morphed his shape into the hooded disguise. The more they walked back towards the small town, the less Alyssa could drag her feet, she checked her phone to see it was past three in the morning, she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear away some sleepiness, but she couldn't wait to fall on a bed.

Once they finally reached the car, she only wanted to drop herself on the passenger seat, but blinked in confusion when the Walrider suddenly grabbed her hand and stopped everyone in their tracks. She was about to question him, but flinched as he pulled her in front of Pauline and raised her tank top up to below her bra, exposing her scarred abdomen.

"What the-" she started, but he interrupted and held her in place as he looked towards the other woman

"Do you see this, Pauline? Murkoff tactical division did this."

The woman tried to cross her arms over her chest, but gave up when the pain did not allow her "And I suppose I should feel guilty?"

Alyssa glanced around briefly, but to her relief, the late hour and very small town ensured that there were no other people in the vicinity.

"No, you should feel warned." The Walrider stated and pointed at the scars on Alyssa's abdomen "Two through the intestines, two through the liver, one through the stomach, three through the lungs, one through the left ventricle, twenty-five percent blood loss."

"Yes, yes, you have impressive healing abilities, I know, why do you think we're so invested in nanotechnology?" Pauline said with a sly smirk, and Alyssa rolled her eyes

"Oh I'm sure Murkoff is so interested in nanotechnology so they can eradicate diseases worldwide and what not." She said sarcastically and pulled her shirt down when the Walrider released her, he then took a step towards Pauline and spoke in a threatening, dead-serious tone

"My point being… You try to warn Murkoff or your family about any of this, and I will know, and I will do that to you, much worse, over and over, I will shatter you from the inside and put you back together only to break you again and again until you _beg_ me to kill you. Do you understand?"

The woman's gaze was fixated in the distance and her frown remained unflinching on her face, after a few quiet seconds, she spoke under her breath venomously

"Understood…"

Alyssa swallowed and made her way around the car over to the passenger seat, she dropped her weight on it and a soft sigh left her as the Walrider shoved Pauline on the backseat next to Billy, before sitting in the driver's seat and roaring the engine awake. On the ride back to the city, she tried to keep herself from falling asleep, mostly succeeding, preferring to wait until she had a soft bed to lay on.

At the hotel lobby, Pauline reluctantly pulled her dark coat to cover more of her white shirt as instructed, since the blood was difficult to notice on the darker color, and hesitantly stepped inside the elevator with the others.

As they reached the penthouse suite, the Walrider pushed her inside, and a long whistle was heard from Billy

"God damn.." he said as he looked around the apartment in awe

"Scram, Billy. Find a room for yourself and keep quiet." The Walrider said, but the young man left to look around before he could finish.

Alyssa followed the Walrider as he pushed Pauline inside a room, she managed to have a look inside before he slammed the door closed and locked her in, it was a bedroom that looked almost identical to the one she'd first walked in, also connected to a bathroom, whose door he went to lock as well, and with access to a balcony.

"Don't think she's gonna have a few hundred bed sheets to tie together and rappel down the side of the building.." Alyssa said with some amusement before a small yawn left her "Should be safe and secure in there."

She noticed the Walrider nod once, but as she watched him turn and begin to walk away, what little amusement she had vanished, while the memories of how close they had been to death less than an hour ago flooded her mind, making her heart thump slightly faster, despite the fact that the danger was not present anymore.

A faint saddened frown grew on her face, she didn't think her actions through, she only caught up with him and tightly wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, resting her face against his back. She felt him slightly flinch in surprise, and she tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke under her breath

"I thought we were going to die…"

He said nothing for a few moments, and her grip relaxed when she felt his velvety hand cover hers "I.. almost failed us." The nanites began flowing off of him, shifting his shape from the disguise into his usual form, but Alyssa shook her head

"It wasn't your fault, we couldn't have known.." she took a deep breath and remained like that for a short while longer, then stepped aside "But.. was Pauline actually bluffing, or did the EMPs really have failsafes?"

"I was unable to determine that." He said as he began walking slowly, and she followed "I was too focused on severing the connections between the generators and consoles in time to thoroughly search for failsafe systems."

Alyssa nodded slowly, and as they reached the bedroom, she felt her legs weaken once her gaze landed on the bed, she stepped towards it, but paused when the Walrider walked behind her and into the bathroom. Moments later, the sound of flowing water made her blink in confusion, she threw a glance back towards the bed, but as tempted as she was to just fall on it and get some much-needed sleep, she couldn't ignore her curiosity about what he could possibly be doing in the bathroom.

Stepping towards the open bathroom door, even though she was well aware he cared little for politeness, she couldn't help feeling that her actions were rather rude, yet it didn't stop her. When she peeked inside, she was slightly surprised to see him standing in the open shower cabin, facing away, as a powerful jet of water flowed down his body.

Some warmth rose to her cheeks when she realized that her eyes were lingering on his muscular back, arms and legs, but then she looked down and noticed the blood mixed with the water flowing down the drain.

A slight sense of sadness came over her when she recalled the corporate soldiers that accompanied Pauline and the way in which they'd been killed, she reminded herself that they would have shot both her and Billy without hesitation if ordered to, yet she still couldn't help her feelings.

"With the right information…" the Walrider suddenly said as he felt her emotions, making her flinch and blush upon realizing it was likely that he'd been aware of her staring the whole time, she took a step back, but he continued "Those same men would have kidnapped and murdered your entire family, for the right price."

Alyssa swallowed and her gaze dropped to the floor, that would be her worst nightmare, and as unpleasant as his remark was, she couldn't deny it was true, she told herself that some people were simply beyond salvation, and at the end of the day, it was every person for themselves, if she wanted to survive, she had to deal with the reality of fighting back for their survival.

A heavy sigh left her, she was too tired to spend time contemplating such matters either way, she dropped her backpack on the armchair, tossed her jacket and bandanna over it, then clumsily took her sneakers off.

The feeling she got when she allowed herself to fall on the soft bed with a few bounces was blissful, only then did she remember that she hadn't showered yet, but seeing as she was already having trouble staying awake, she decided to postpone it until the morning, and sleep took her almost immediately.


	30. Chapter 30

When Alyssa woke up, she felt as if she had slept for a full day, her body was slightly stiff from not moving much, and when she felt awake enough to sit up, she found herself alone in the bedroom. With a long stretch and a yawn, she slowly got up on her feet and headed to the bathroom, undressing and leaving a trail of clothes on the way. A small smile set on her face, knowing how her mother would scold her if she left her clothes on the floor like that at home; it was bitter-sweet, but she quickly remembered that she had more urgent things to worry about.

 _Christ, we basically have a hostage…_ The disturbing thought intruded as she hopped in the shower and cleaned herself, it was almost surreal how wrong things had gone and how out-of-control her life had spiraled in only one week, on a whim, she tried pinching her forearm, on the very unlikely chance that it was all just a horribly long twisted dream. She wasn't sure why, and she wasn't comfortable trying to figure out why, but she felt reluctant to call it a nightmare.

 _It.. could be much worse, things could've gone much worse, relax.._

After stepping out of the shower and drying her hair, she wrapped the largest towel she found around herself and began gathering her clothes from the floor. It was almost eerily quiet, from as high as the penthouse floor and through the closed windows, it wasn't possible to hear the life of the busy city of Denver, making her want to reach for the remote control and turn on the television for some background noise.

When she started raising her gaze from the floor, however, she suppressed a small scream, more out of surprise than fright, upon noticing two skeletal feet floating a few inches above the carpet. A soft breath of relief left her as she looked up more and saw the Walrider looking down at her. Moments later she realized she was reaching for her panties on the floor, quickly grabbed them along with the rest of her clothes then rushed into the bathroom, but left the door open.

"G-good morning to you too." Alyssa said with some warmth in her cheeks and shoved the dirty panties in the laundry bin, then searched for the new undergarments she bought with Lisa.

The Walrider replied with only one word "Noon.", making Alyssa pause as she clothed herself.

"Oh… So that's why I feel so rested." She cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly "How about our.. guest, how is she?"

"Unexpectedly stable."

"Stable, huh.." Alyssa repeated to herself as she recalled the woman's attitude "Well, I'm no psychologist, but she seems to be a psycho to me, or a sociopath. Not really surprised she's okay in her current position."

Once she dressed herself, she picked up the bandanna and loosely tied it around her neck, then followed the Walrider out the bedroom. Ordering food came to her mind, until she realized he was heading towards the woman's room, and reluctantly decided to accompany him.

Before he unlocked and opened the door, Alyssa lifted her bandanna over her nose again, even though they seemed to have the woman under direct and indirect control through threats, she didn't feel comfortable with allowing her face to be known by the Murkoff agent.

Her heart picked up the pace slightly once they walked inside the room Pauline was kept in, the woman was laying on the bed with her legs crossed, when her gaze turned to them, Alyssa could see that cold, oddly confident look was back. It unsettled her a little, she knew she was safe, the Walrider stood right next to her, but there was something about the woman that disturbed her.

 _I guess it takes a 'certain' kind of person to be her rank in Murkoff…_

"About time one of you showed up, I'm hungry, and I'm not going to be useful if I'm starving." Pauline said with almost palpable condescension, making Alyssa's brow furrow slightly

"You should be more careful with that attitude.."

When Pauline began sitting up, Alyssa felt a need to take a step back, but relaxed when she heard the Walrider's voice

"Your bleeding has ceased completely, you are ready to assist us."

The Murkoff agent paused, but crossed her arms over her chest, as if to prove a point, then physically flinched in pain and winced

"Yeees, so it seems, but as you can see, it's far from painless. Do you really want to risk Murkoff finding out I was shot? What do you expect me to report to them? That I found the subject we're tracking, that she shot me and that I lost her?" She scoffed with amusement "My ass would be in so much trouble I wouldn't be able to lift a finger to help you."

Alyssa quietly tensed up as she felt the Walrider's displeasure at her words, he still spoke seemingly calm, but she could hear the impatient undertone

"I don't have more time for you, you'd best make up a believable report and conceal your wound, the consequences for your lack of cooperation will not change."

A mild scowl set on the woman's face "It.. wouldn't be the first time I lied to my superiors and got away with it." Her expression soon softened as she exhaled through her nose "I can't do anything about the bodies left behind, but I _can_ report that there was no sign of Billy, or her." Pauline nodded towards Alyssa, then her tone turned surprisingly more friendly "And I do believe I can help you in another way…"

Alyssa's eyebrow rose suspiciously, she looked at the Walrider, who crossed his arms and said demandingly

"Speak."

Pauline cleared her throat, but kept that oddly friendly tone of voice "Well, as you're aware, my partner Paul, he's currently away, but he is coming back today. If you wish, I could have him in Denver by evening. Unless you're planning to shoot him too, he will be more than capable to go out in the field, especially with my help, at least until I can move my arm freely again. Obviously, you already know about his daughter, so getting him to play along wouldn't be difficult at all. If not, you could still push me out the door and pray that they don't find out I was shot when they see I can't move my arm properly and start asking questions. Murkoff agents don't get into gunfights with cops or criminals, so getting shot while looking for the Walrider's host and finding no sign of any human host would seem quite suspicious, don't you think? Well, it's your choice, of course…"

Alyssa didn't hide the look of disgust she gave the woman, not only due to her proposition to sell out her partner, but also the casual way she implied threatening the safety of the man's daughter to make him cooperate with them. She couldn't help but notice how calm and calculated the woman was the whole time either, for a moment, she thought she seemed even somewhat manipulative in her speech

"What.. Are you seriously willing to set up a trap for your partner?" she didn't bother concealing the distaste in her tone, but the woman simply shrugged

"You don't _have_ to call it a trap, but if you insist, yes, I suppose so."

Alyssa shook her head and was about to express her disapproval again, but she heard the Walrider

"Useful enough. You will lure him close to this building tonight and he will do your job until you are able to work without attracting attention to yourself."

Pauline nodded casually, and Alyssa's jaw dropped slightly, she could hardly believe the woman's willingness to betray her partner with seemingly no second thoughts or real reason. The Walrider began leaving the room, but before she followed, she wanted to ask one more question

"How can you do this to him? Why?"

The Murkoff agent rolled her eyes blatantly "Oh, spare me, kid, why should I go through this shit alone? What can I say, I suppose misery does seek company." The smirk she flashed disgusted Alyssa further, she remained quiet for a few moments, until the Walrider grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the room and locked the door behind them.

"Ugh, I know I shouldn't be surprised, no normal person would be able to climb up the corporate ladder at Murkoff, but still.."

"Sociopath indeed, good profiling." The Walrider said, drawing a brief exhale out of her

"Wish I wasn't right…" Her mood quickly darkened again, she pulled her bandanna down and her thoughts returned to the conversation with Pauline, it was easily noticeable to him, and he decided to make something clear

"Alyssa, we cannot afford wasting time, I am healing both Billy and this woman, you insisted we take him along, so now I am pinned down until his heart can beat on its own, we need boots on the ground, and Pauline's partner will fill in that position."

He began walking away, she processed his words as she followed behind, and her mood began lifting just slightly; she had to admit, she felt a bit stupid "I.. forgot about that." A soft sigh left her as they reached the living room "I understand, but still.. to sell out your partner like that, just so she's not in trouble by herself?"

"Honor among criminals?"

Alyssa scoffed with some amusement and bitterness "True enough. I.. I'm not used to people like this. I always knew they existed, but never imagined I'd meet a scumbag of this caliber in person, she even clearly implied we use his daughter against the man."

The television turned on seemingly by itself as the Walrider laid on the couch, placing his hands under his head, hanging one leg over the end of the furniture that was too small for him, and the other over the back of the couch. The sight caught her eye, but she quickly averted her gaze without really knowing why.

"Perhaps she has illusions of using her partner to escape. You don't know the man anyway, he could be an even bigger waste of oxygen than herself, what do you care, human?"

Alyssa crossed her arms as she dropped her weight on one of the armchairs, but looked at the television screen and constantly changing channels

"It's not about him or her, it's about the other people in their lives! I don't know her fiancé, or his daughter, but I'm willing to bet they're innocent people who don't deserve to be dragged into this, let alone suffer consequences if those two fail to meet your expectations."

Only after she finished did she realize how condemning her tone and words sounded, she felt herself slightly tense up in anticipation, she did hear something that sounded like a low growl, but it was more like a thoughtful rumble, followed by his calm voice

"The sins of the father…"

Alyssa swallowed, but relaxed, she felt tempted to protest, yet on second thought, she was well aware that getting into an argument with him wouldn't be a good idea, especially on a topic such as morality. Additionally, she told herself that it wasn't as if he was doing this for fun, Murkoff were not going to simply give up searching for them, she learned that the hard way, he was doing this to protect himself, and due to their bizarre relationship, herself as well, in turn; she preferred not to think of what would happen if the Murkoff agents would try to double-cross them.

A sudden pang of hunger brought her out of the bleak thoughts, she remembered that it was past noon, and also about the other guest

"Hey, where's Billy?"

The channels on the TV stopped changing once they reached a news channel, whose current report was unrelated to Murkoff or the asylum; the Walrider only barely raised a finger to point up, towards the second floor of the penthouse, without saying a word.

Following his direction and example, Alyssa left the room quietly and made her way upstairs. As she walked, she couldn't ignore the unpleasant feeling at the back of her mind, she didn't like the way the Walrider was acting, he seemed too distant and cold. It didn't take her long to realize how seemingly nonsensical her thoughts were.

 _No shit, why would he be any different, you should know him well enough by now…_ But at the same time, she could clearly remember moments when he wasn't like this, times when he was gentle and in a way, closer. Granted, those moments were short and rare, but she missed them. The comfort that came with those moments wasn't without bitterness, however, as the blood on his hands wasn't something she could forget or ignore.

Her darkening mood was alleviated as she approached Billy's room and she began hearing both music and some loud sounds she couldn't quite make out yet. She raised her hand to knock, and a small smile set on her face, there was no way he would hear her knocking over all that noise, so she decided to hit the door with her fist instead, moderately hard.

"Billy!" Both her banging and shouting yielded no results, she hadn't checked if the door was locked, she hated it when someone barged in her room without her knowing, so she didn't want to do it to someone else, but after almost a minute with no response, she figured she had little choice.

The moment she opened the door, the loud music blasted her in the face, but what made her heart skip a beat were the sudden, even louder sounds of gunshots. She almost reflexively tried to hide, until she noticed the sounds were only coming from the video game Billy was playing.

 _God damn Murkoff tactical cops…_ She swallowed as the memory of being shot briefly surfaced before she pushed it away.

The young man had pulled an armchair in front of the large TV and was completely focused on his game until Alyssa opened the door, bringing more light into the room and attracting his attention.

"Do you want some lunch?" Alyssa raised her voice as he turned to her with a questioning look, only to receive an even more questioning one as he shouted

"What?"

She tried to signal with her hand for him to lower the volume, as her own ears were struggling with the loud sound, and raised her voice further "Do you want so-" only to be interrupted by Billy's shout

"WHAT?"

A soft but amused sigh left Alyssa before she shouted back at the top of her lungs "DO YOU WANT SOME LUNCH?"

However, halfway through her sentence, Billy muted the music, leaving her loud voice echoing in the room until she quickly lowered her own volume and crossed her arms with some half-serious annoyance.

"Sure!" Billy simply said with a smile and resumed the music, but at a more reasonable volume. Alyssa shook her head, leaving the room with a lingering smile.

She knew both the good and the bad about Billy, the fact that he used a nano swarm to slaughter Murkoff employees in a similar manner to the Walrider definitely unsettled her, but it would be very unfair to ignore all the waking nightmares Murkoff had put him through before that, it seemed highly unlikely to her that Billy would be capable of such things if it hadn't been for Murkoff's inhumane therapies. Recalling the way she first found him, as well as the experiments they were conducting on patients, made Alyssa's hairs stand up again, but it comforted her to see Billy finally safe and enjoying himself for a change, she didn't want to imagine how long it had been since the last time he had this freedom and opportunity.

Making her way to the kitchen, she picked up the hotel phone and ordered lunch for three, as much as she wasn't a fan of Pauline, she figured letting her starve wouldn't be a good idea. Billy wanted to eat in his room, and since the Walrider didn't feel like playing guard dog for Pauline to eat in the dining room next to Alyssa, she had to eat by herself. Not that she wanted her company, she much preferred being by herself than in the same room as a Murkoff agent.

Admittedly, it felt slightly odd to sit by herself at the long dining table, but once she was alone with her thoughts, it wasn't long until they went back to the Park family; she was concerned about their safety, yet the memory of the argument and Lisa's anger was still fresh in her mind. She wondered if she could really blame the woman, it was made fairly clear that Alyssa had become Murkoff's primary target, either for capture or extermination, both her and Billy, it seemed that if Murkoff couldn't have them, then they needed them dead.

No, she couldn't blame Lisa for her outburst, the woman put the safety of her children above a stranger's, or at least so she thought, no one could hold that against her. When she imagined the family in danger, she felt a pang of guilt, but she quickly pushed it away, she'd be damned if she'd blame herself even if they currently were in a tight spot, she had more than enough on her plate, and it wasn't her that insisted they went their separate ways.

On top of that, there were more urgent matters that busied her mind further, Pauline had said she would arrange for her partner to come to Denver that night, she didn't know the man, but she did know that it took a certain kind of person to work for Murkoff for a long period of time, the man couldn't have been like Waylon, unaware of the corporation's actions at the Mount Massive asylum, which only left one option as far as she could figure: just like Pauline, he knew exactly what Murkoff were doing, and he was a willing participant.

A slight look of disgust subconsciously grew on Alyssa's face as she ate, even though she was enjoying her food. _As if one scumbag wasn't enough, I can hardly believe I fell asleep in the same building as that woman…_

Not wanting her mood to go down the drain too much, she did her best to push the unpleasant thoughts aside. After she finished eating, she picked up her plates and placed them in the kitchen sink, then went to pick up the others' plates. She didn't mind washing her own dishes, nor Billy's, although it did feel pleasant to imagine tossing Pauline's plate straight into her face, but she quickly dismissed the childish fantasy and the smirk that creeped up on her face.

The hours passed painfully slowly, Alyssa didn't like it at all, it was too reminiscent of the day they were waiting for night to come and go get Billy from the hospital, which led to the encounter with Murkoff that had been way too risky for her comfort. In an attempt to keep herself distracted, she placed the undergarments she bought into the dresser in her bedroom, fiddled with the washing machine until she found out how to wash what few dirty clothes she had, watched as much television as she could, which wasn't much, since it usually bored her, and tried playing some games on the console in her room but kept failing to focus, her mind was always trying to return to the dangerous situation ahead.

One thing she had yet to address was the gun she picked up from the Murkoff soldier, still in her backpack, she purposefully avoided touching it as she took things out, but figured it was best to get it out of the way.

Double-checking that the entrance to the penthouse was still locked, she picked up the pistol and reluctantly left the bedroom. She felt somewhat awkward walking around with a loaded gun, even though the safety lock was still on, but made her way to the living room, just to find it empty, as was the balcony next to it, and the lobby, and the kitchen and dining room, and seemingly everywhere else.

 _Where the heck could he have gone now of all time-_ Both her quick pace back to the living room and her frustrated thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the Walrider's rather nonchalant voice coming from right behind her

"Don't kill her yet, she will prove useful to us."

Turning on her heel, she quickly relaxed when she saw the swarm looking down at her "What? N-no, hell no, I'm not going to shoot her, I just wanted to ask you, what should I do with this gun?" She held the pistol up with two fingers by the grip, keeping it pointed down "It has my fingerprints all over it.."

Even though she couldn't see his expression, she had a feeling that he gave her a look as if she was being silly, the tone of his voice and simple words indicated so as well "Keep it, wipe them."

A slight pout set on her face at his dismissive advice, admittedly, it wasn't wrong, but she didn't know what she expected.

"But.. I'll get fingerprints on it again if I touch it." She said as she stepped into the living room and watched him go towards the balcony.

In return, she only received one word "Gloves."

A soft sigh escaped Alyssa's lips "Great, so I'll have to buy gloves too. In the summer." she mumbled more to herself, he heard her clearly, but she continued with semi-serious frustration "Only gonna sweat a few gallons per day.. If I keep them on at all times.. And if I don't, 'oh, what's that, someone's shooting at me? Hold on a minute, Mr. Murkoff agent, I gotta put on my gloves before I can shoot you back to defend myself so I don't leave fingerprints on this gun here'.. And wearing gloves in the summer is not suspicious at all, no sir.."

Only after she paused her little rant did she look up and notice the Walrider staring back at her over his shoulder. She cleared her throat awkwardly and mumbled a "Nevermind", but that didn't stop him from approaching.

"Sorry, sorry, shutting up!" She raised her voice to more audible and clear levels and took a step back, despite the fact that she couldn't feel any aggression in him.

When he didn't stop, she walked around the couch so she was in front of it while he stood behind it and said with a nervous smile "Alright, I'll go wipe my prints off this gun."

She suppressed a squeal when he suddenly leaped over the couch, it made her physically flinch, take a step back and instinctively raise her arms in front of her defensively, yet it didn't cross her mind to point the gun in his direction.

"Let me eliminate your finger prints."

Alyssa's arms slowly descended as she gave him a questioning and skeptical look, he sounded serious, but not overly so.

"Erm, what exactly are you-"

"You're correct, gloves are an inconvenience, in case of an emergency, you need to be able to defend yourself without secondary concerns."

She placed the gun on the coffee table, still unsure what was about to happen, and when she turned back to question him again, he lifted one open hand towards her "Come here."

Reluctantly, she placed her hand in his clawed one, she was going to ask how he was planning to remove her prints, but the velvety sensation she felt once her skin made contact with the smooth nanite surface of his made her more distracted than she would be willing to admit.

"S-so how exactly will it work?" she asked with hesitation, but he answered as casually as if he was commenting on the weather

"The nanites will break down the tissue building the ridges on your fingers and palms."

A weak smile flashed on Alyssa's face, for a second she believed he was trying to frighten her for some reason. Moments later, she understood that he was being dead serious, and the realization made her jaw drop. Almost on instinct, she recoiled away and stepped back, she tried to leave, but he immediately placed an arm around her back and pulled her close to him. His gesture kept her from panicking outwardly, but she still panicked on the inside

"NO! No, no, no, please.." she protested fearfully, but he held her tightly as he sat on the couch, pulling her down with him, and spoke in a stricter tone

"It is necessary."

Both her breath and heart rate picked up drastically, within seconds, she began feeling a tingling sensation in both her hands, and her mind immediately went back to the disturbingly vivid memory of what happened to the arm of the mechanic in the motel bathroom when nanites started chewing on it.

Desperately trying to get them off her skin by rubbing her hands did not stop the increasingly strong tingling feeling, the more intense it grew, the less she could suppress her whimpers, to the point that the Walrider felt the need to intervene

"What is wrong with you? Be still, it will hurt, but it will be one less thing to worry about."

His harsh tone and uncaring attitude only brought to the surface tears she was holding back, she didn't try to hide them, nor the reasons for her panic, she spilled it out as a tear fell on one of her shaking hands

"I-I can still remember it clearly.. What you did to that man at the motel, his arm, it.. the muscles and bones, I saw it, I saw a real person's fucking _bones_ , and his screams of agony.. G-get them off of me!"

It suddenly became clear to the Walrider why she was being so difficult over what should be mere temporary physical pain, but another whimper left Alyssa as the tingling began to shift into pain, and she tensed up further.

His shoulders slumped and he relaxed, realizing that he should be more careful about what he did to people in front of her, since traumatic memories were more likely to remain fresh in the human brain and cause mental issues like PTSD.

Alyssa flinched when she suddenly felt a hand gently going down her back, it was a useful distraction as the pain in the sensitive tips of her fingers grew.

"Don't be ridiculous, and don't think about that, it will not happen to you, I promise." Even though his voice could still frighten an average person half to death, she could tell he was trying to put on a somewhat soothing tone, the assurance did help to keep her panic in check, along with the deep steady breaths she tried to maintain, but the pain only grew more intense. How she wished she hadn't went on her little half-serious rant about how inconvenient gloves would be, logically thinking, she agreed that it was better to remove the fingerprints and not have to worry about them again, but the pain in one of the most sensitive parts of her body strongly disagreed.

"God, it feels like it's burning without fire!" she tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke through gritted teeth and made an effort to keep away both her tears and the gruesome memory of that man's arm disintegrating into a puddle of red mush.

The Walrider had to admit, he actually felt sorry for her, the way she squirmed in agony, her cheeks red and wet with tears, but he didn't know how to help her, she had to endure it until the end. When she started shaking her hand as if trying to shake off the nanites, he grabbed it and lightly squeezed it in his

"Don't do that." He said calmly, but she snapped at him, barely able to finish her sentence

"W-what the _hell_ do you want me to..do!"

Her righteous frustration was suddenly interrupted as he placed one arm under her knees and pulled her on his lap, she didn't have much time to be surprised, since another burst of burning sensation overloaded her nerves and a few sobs escaped her as she rested her head against his chest.

Feeling like the blood flowing through the veins in her fingers and palms was replaced with lava, she didn't know what to do with her hands, she lightly squeezed them shut, but they wouldn't stop shaking.

"God..dammit.." she whispered weakly between unsteady breaths, then flinched when his hand moved to hers, encompassing both of them and holding them firmly but gently still.

As a few more unbearable minutes passed, the scalding feeling underneath her skin slowly, too slowly, began to die down, and as her tormented nerves settled down, so did her whimpers and quivering breath. The pain gradually turned rather dull and faint, it was still noticeable, but nowhere near as bad as before.

Cautiously, she began trying to open her hands, and after he removed his, she was somewhat surprised but greatly relieved to see there was no blood, only some sweat, in fact, her skin looked just the same as far as she could see from that distance and through still teary eyes. Her first urge was to rub her eyes to have a better look, but she changed her mind when she remembered she would have to use her hands for that.

Even though the unbearable burning sensation wasn't present anymore, she still felt the need to run cold water down her hands and face. A deep sigh of relief left her once the realization that the ordeal was over sank in, but it was followed by the realization that she had been sitting on his lap and writhing in pain for the past minutes.

The heat quickly returned to her cheeks, but not due to pain this time, as she jumped off of him as if she had been sitting on a hot stove

"I-I need some.. sink, I mean water. Cold. Cold water." She stumbled over both her words and her feet as she began making her way to the bathroom, not entirely comfortable with the fact that the Walrider silently followed her.

Leaning over the bathroom sink, she touched the faucet reluctantly, but the contact was less painful than she expected. She clumsily turned on the ice-cold water to the maximum pressure, but before she could put her trembling hands under the powerful jet, his dark hand reached over and lessened the pressure and set the temperature to only moderately cold, knowing that she could hurt herself otherwise.

With protests being the last things on her mind, she began to wash her hands with unnecessary caution, as if even a strong breeze could harm them.

"What if.. what if I ever get arrested, though? Won't they find it suspicious that I don't have prints?" She asked in a much more stable voice as she carefully brought water up to her face.

"If I am ever away long enough for you to get arrested, taken to a police station and checked for prints, you would be either dead or in Murkoff's custody before you knew it." He stated simply, and as unpleasant as it sounded, she couldn't disagree, she knew Murkoff had a general idea of what she looked like, they had access to arrest records and monitored them, legally or not, it wouldn't take them long to become interested in her, and they were not afraid of the police, she knew all it took was one fat bribe or one serious threat towards one cop and she would go from police custody to either kidnapped or dead. The realization that she had most likely left some of her DNA at the asylum apart from blood only made the scenario of getting arrested even worse, since if the police took her DNA and placed it in their database, there was a real risk of Murkoff being able to match it.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she splashed some more cold water on her face, but nodded and reached for the towel.

"Can't believe I'm saying this after going through that ordeal but.. Thanks. You're right, it was necessary." She said hesitantly as she gently pressed the towel over her face, still unnecessarily concerned about the integrity of her hands.

"Be ready for tonight." Was all he said, and when she put the towel away and looked around, she found herself alone in the bathroom.

A soft exhale left her, but she decided to take the time to have a closer look at her hands. Under the bright light, she held her palms up and examined the state of her skin, it seemed to be perfectly normal, with the exception of the complete lack of prints on her fingers and palms. The smooth texture was more than a little strange, she carefully touched her arm and the sink experimentally, it was a different feeling from what she was used to her whole life, yet almost invisible unless the observer was looking very closely.

Leaving the bathroom, she still couldn't let go of the feeling that her hands weren't fine, despite the fact that there was no sign of ill health, apart from the dull ache that she could've sworn was more intense just a couple minutes ago. Once in her bedroom, she decided to heed his words and get prepared. As she brushed her hair, she realized she wasn't satisfied with the condition of her dyed hair, and made a mental note to buy some better shampoo, along with other necessary items at the earliest opportunity. Applying makeup was a slightly difficult task, as there was a light quiver still present in her hands, but out of curiosity, she pressed her thumb on the plastic lip gloss tube, yet when she removed it, she didn't know why she was surprised at first to not see a print.

Walking into the living room, she found both it and the balcony empty, and after fetching some tissues from the kitchen, she picked up the gun from the coffee table, sat on the couch, and began wiping away the fingerprints she left on it before, while the TV provided background noise from the news channel. She had to admit, it was very convenient to handle the pistol without having to worry about leaving her prints on it as she removed the old ones; in hindsight, despite the temporary severe pain, she accepted that it had been worth it to eliminate one thing that could both lead to her identity and that could make her second guess what is safe to touch in an emergency situation.

After the third murder report and fifth robbery report, however, Alyssa decided she had had enough news for the time being, so she reached for the remote and switched the television off. The almost dead silence wasn't something she was a fan of, but she had more than enough worries on her mind and no need to get a fill of further negativity.

 _Sheesh, and mom was telling me I'm paranoid for locking my doors and windows at night.. Yeah yeah, the city has more crime than the suburbs, but still.._

Once she was done with the pistol and had a brief look around, she grew ever-so-slightly unsettled upon noticing that the Walrider was still nowhere in sight, but before she let her emotions run, she reminded herself that this happened before, and whenever it did, he was always gone for a reason and never for a long time.

After making sure the safety lock was still on, she picked up the gun in a firm grip and experimentally pointed it at the floor, looking down the iron sights. The only times when she fired a weapon were when she joined her father at the firing range several times, she only knew the very basics, and never would've guessed that there would come a day when she would wish that she had a lot more firearm experience, not due to curiosity, or as a hobby, but as a means of protecting her own life.

A regretful sigh left her as she lowered the weapon and stood up, it was just another thing she wished she had done long before heading to the asylum and turning her life upside down, just another thing that could help save her life but was too late for now.

As she walked back to her room, she almost dropped the pistol from her loose grip when she caught sight of a hooded man walking down the wide hallway, coming from the entrance, until she realized it was only the Walrider's disguised form. He didn't turn to look at her, but in his hand, Alyssa spotted an unfamiliar mobile phone, making a faint smile grow on her face as she shook her head.

 _Again with the 'borrowed' phones.. Well I suppose it is necessary, better than using mine._

Before she entered her room, she realized he was heading towards Pauline's, so she hurried inside her own to grab her wallet, car keys, and backpack. However, she didn't feel it was necessary to take the gun with her, especially since from what she understood, they wouldn't, or rather couldn't, go too far away from the building, so she expected the trip to be very short. After briefly scanning the room, she decided to place the weapon in a lockable drawer and hide the key, just in case room service showed up unannounced.

 _Or god forbid, Pauline somehow gets out.._

Rushing after the Walrider, she found the door to Pauline's room open, and when she saw that he was standing inside, right at the entrance, it was like a clear safe greenlight for her to go in too. Luckily, just as she was about to step inside, he noticed her and quickly pushed her out in a somewhat harsh, urgent manner.

"Hey! What gives?" Alyssa protested, but once he raised a hand and lifted her bandanna over her nose, she immediately felt like an idiot. After mentally slapping herself for being so dangerously forgetful that she almost allowed a Murkoff agent to see her face, she stepped inside with no incident and watched as Pauline slowly paced around the room, holding the phone to her ear after dialing her partner's number.

They all waited silently for the man to answer, and once he did, the Murkoff woman proceeded to lure him to them with the same unsettling willingness from before.

"So how is she? Yeah? Good to hear. How about you? Really. I'm fine, actually, how about some dinner? You'll be in town tonight, right? Why not? Catch up and all that fun stuff. Oh, that late? Works for me. N..no, I don't think I can make it that far tonight." Pauline threw a quick cautious glance to the Walrider and followed the instructions she was previously given "You know the hotel on 19th? Yeah. Yeah that one. The diner right ahead. Yep. Alright, don't make me wait an hour again, I'm already hungry. See you there."

After hanging up, Pauline tossed the phone to the Walrider, who placed it in his pocket.

"Diner down the street past the parking lot, 9:30 tonight. Satisfied?" The Murkoff agent asked with a lingering, condescending smirk still on her face. The swarm said nothing at first, only made Alyssa flinch when he suddenly lunged at the woman, lifting her several inches off the floor by her neck.

"What the fuck!?.." she struggled to speak through constricted airways, the pain from the gunshot under her collar was making it more difficult to grab his arm and lift herself up to allow more air into her lungs, she was still semi-successful, until he tightened his grip on her neck, restricting her breath almost entirely.

Alyssa watched with a concerned and confused frown for a few moments, and just when she was about to question him, she heard his voice, but in that threatening, dead-serious sinister tone that sent cold chills down her spine

"You honestly believe your partner will be able to get you out of this, don't you? You reek of deceit and I gave you a fair warning, you'd best remember it the moment you start seriously considering to double-cross me."

As much as she didn't like the Murkoff agent, it was increasingly unpleasant for Alyssa to watch her struggle to breathe, so after a few more long, uncomfortable seconds, she pushed herself to speak up

"I think that's enough, Wally, please, you could hurt her and undo the healing you did on her wound."

His head turned to Alyssa only a couple inches, and he did comply, somewhat hesitantly, he dropped Pauline without pushing her. The woman quickly stepped back and began coughing, but amazingly, as soon as she caught her breath, the smirk returned to her face and she spoke once she cleared her throat

"Oh, how adorable, a pet name for the monster."

Alyssa physically tensed up again, anticipating more violence, but to her surprise, the Walrider simply walked past her and out of the room.

"Christ, lady, do you have any sense of self-preservation? Be more careful around volatile people." She said almost under her breath, but Pauline scoffed at her

"You don't get in my position by being careful and minding your manners, kid."

Alyssa suppressed the urge to roll her eyes "Your position of being an injured hostage?" but the woman quickly snapped back with an air of condescension as she corrected

"My position of a high-security clearance officer in one of the most powerful international corporations in the world."

"And look where that got you."

"So you think…" the Murkoff agent crossed her arms over her chest with some difficulty, as the wound still bothered her.

Alyssa only shook her head and left the room, understanding why the Walrider remained suspicious of the woman, she seemed to believe she could snake her way out of the tight spot she was in, and if they weren't cautious enough, she could be right.

"Ugh, for how long will we have to share space with this woman?" She asked as she followed the hooded entity into the living room

"For as long as it will be necessary to subvert Murkoff's efforts in the trial." He stated plainly and stepped onto the balcony, leaning against the tall railing, but Alyssa dropped herself on a couch

"And how exactly is that gonna happen?" a yawn followed her question, but his answer sparked her interest

"By sending a message."

"What.. kind of message?" she asked with some concern and suspicion, only to be disappointed by his dismissal

"You'll see."

Alyssa could have sworn those words sounded as if he spoke them with a smirk, but she didn't feel like insisting with more questions, knowing she wasn't likely to get more information.

Feeling some boredom coming with an undertone of nervousness, she glanced out the window and noticed the sun was only halfway set, which drew an impatient sigh out of her. At the balcony, she watched the hooded figure of the Walrider look at the city below, she felt too comfortable to stand up and walk over to him, but she couldn't help but wish he could give her some of his patience, the only thing she hated more than waiting for hours was waiting for hours to do something dangerous.

Eventually, she pushed herself off the soft couch and made her way to Billy's room, who barely acknowledged her presence, still absorbed in his video games. Out of boredom, she even considered checking on Pauline, but she didn't feel it was safe enough to unlock the door to her room by herself, and she didn't want to bother the Walrider to join her when there was no real reason to check on her, so she gave up and turned the television on.

Alyssa almost jumped off her bed when later, he suddenly swung the door to her room open, but she finally heard the words that she'd been waiting for

"Let's go."

So after quickly grabbing her backpack, wallet and car keys, she followed him out.


	31. Chapter 31

As the elevator began descending, the relief she felt due to the long wait finally being over was beginning to be replaced by nervousness, she couldn't let go of how even more risky it will be to have another Murkoff agent around, as if one wasn't dangerous enough.

It was tempting to blame herself, after all, she did shoot Pauline, she knew that if the woman was able to go back to Murkoff without her superiors finding out that she was shot they wouldn't have to find a replacement for her. Regardless of how much she thought about it, however, she couldn't find another solution, she mentally placed herself back in that situation in the field, but failed to find any way out other than pulling the trigger.

Moments later, she began feeling a stare on her, and when she glanced at the hooded entity next to her, she noticed he was indeed looking at her.

"Jeez, is it that obvious that I'm nervous? I really gotta find a way to hide it better."

"Not necessarily."

"How did you know, then?"

"The nanites on your heart."

A faint unsettled frown set on Alyssa's face, her heart was indeed beating faster, and with all the things going on, it was easy to forget there were nanobots in her body, but the reminder still made her somewhat uneasy.

Once they reached the hotel lobby, he discreetly dropped the borrowed phone on the carpeted portion of the floor, ensuring a silent landing and not drawing any attention.

After taking the first few steps outside, a drop of water landing on her nose made her slightly flinch, and looking up at the sky, she spotted a large group of dark grey clouds almost right overhead. She lifted the hood of her jacket over her head and for a mindless moment, almost reached for the Walrider's hand to pull him to walk faster before the rain started, but settled for increasing her own pace to the parking lot and hoping he remained close.

A strong gust of wind suddenly pushed her hood down, making her put it back up and zip her jacket up against the cold air. Despite the chilly evening weather, the city was still very lively, not only the heavy traffic, but the amount of people adding to the noise as well, it was a drastic change from the silence in the hotel. Even so, the fresh air was invigorating, and the busy atmosphere wasn't unpleasant, it reminded her of the time when her own life was normal too.

The thought struck a gloomy feeling in her, but it was suddenly interrupted by a honk from behind, even though she was on the sidewalk, making her slightly jump. When she looked behind, she saw a man on a motorcycle passing by at a safe distance, but before she could roll her eyes at the unnecessary alarm, she felt an arm on her lower back as the Walrider pulled her towards the parking lot.

The drive to the diner was very short, so short that it made Alyssa wonder if the car was even necessary, but the vehicle did provide both protection and a more concealed place to wait and talk than out in the open, so she didn't argue against it; she didn't argue when the swarm took the driver's seat either, her concerns were slowly but surely growing to the point that she was afraid of having a car accident due to lack of focus even on the short travel, the less she could have on her mind, the better.

They parked the car on the opposite side of the diner, not directly in front of it but not too far away either, picking a moderately distant spot with a clear view. When she checked the time, she was pleased to see that they were only two minutes early, they shouldn't have to wait long, unless the man was going to be late.

Much to Alyssa's chagrin, late he was. Ten minutes and going past the supposed time of the meeting, she grew increasingly impatient and nervous.

"Have you seen him yet?" she asked restlessly as her eyes kept scanning the area in front of the diner, not even knowing what kind of person she was trying to find.

"No." the swarm said calmly, his hands relaxed on the steering wheel while he watched the same area.

"What does he look like? Who should I keep an eye out for?" the urgency in her tone was almost comical, and her frustration only grew when he dismissed her question

"No matter, be patient."

Alyssa leaned back in her seat rather quickly and bit her lip to prevent herself from expressing that frustration, she knew she had to be patient, but lately she had been spending a lot more time waiting than she was used to, that by itself wouldn't be too aggravating, but the fact that she was waiting for a person who worked for the corporation that wanted her either dead or captured for horrific experiments was too much for her nerves.

A few minutes later, she couldn't keep herself quiet again.

"Are you serious, how is he this late?! Is he coming from Mars or something?!" she said under her breath, but in a clearly agitated tone as she crossed her arms over her chest

"No, Washington D.C."

Alyssa's temper cooled for a moment when she recalled the fact that the man was coming from visiting his ill daughter

"Is that.. where his daughter is?" she asked with a hint of hesitation, receiving only a nod in response.

A disheartened sigh left her as her mind returned to the unpleasant thoughts, as if the situation wasn't bad enough, innocent people had to be dragged into it and put in danger as well.

Throwing a quick glance in another direction in an attempt to find anyone that they could've been looking for, she instead noticed a small cosmetics store close by, reminding her of the shopping she made a mental note for. It took a while to convince the Walrider to join her to the store for two minutes while still watching the diner, but even when she returned, she started again the moment she put the small bag away and slammed the car door shut.

"God dammit, the more I think about it, the more I realize I shouldn't have shot that bitch!" She raised her voice, but then quickly lowered it and completely closed the window to her side before continuing "If I hadn't shot her then we wouldn't have to go after this asshole and his daughter!" crossing one leg over the other in an attempt to stop one from trembling both with impatience and nervousness, she rested her head in her palm for a moment.

"It was the safest solution." The Walrider said with a slight undertone of impatience, not at the continuing wait, but at her restlessness.

"Yeah, at the time, but what about now? Sitting in a car at night waiting for yet another Murkoff bastard is not exactly what I'd call safe, to say the least!" she tried not to sound as if she was snapping at him, but didn't do a very good job at it "This is bullshit, why did I do this. It was so fucking stupid, I only have myself to blame, I should've hired a private detective to go to the damn asylum or something."

Her last sentence struck a nerve within him, he wasn't sure why, but he didn't say anything as she continued her anxious rant

"No, wait, _that's_ stupid too, they would've killed him.." A long unstable exhale left her as silence set for a few seconds, but she broke it soon enough "And then Lisa bitches at me for having the guts to be Murkoff's main target, like, how dare I, as if it's my damn fault, as if I'm wanting it, are you kidding me! And then ditches us and goes to god knows where. Wonder if they're even still in one piece by now. Christ, what was she thinking?! I mean, I know we're not exactly safe and sound right now, far from it, but her husband is still a target too, god dammit, they're not gonna just remove his name from the blacklist just because they have other people to kill! Does she seriously think they can make it to freakin _Texas_ unscathed? With Murkoff on their tail? Not to sound selfish but I sure would've felt safer in the apartment with more people there too, more people on _our_ side, not more Murkoff scumbags. Tsk, the nerve of that Murkoff bitch too, god, thinking back on her attitude really pisses me off, I should've bought some duct tape for her arrogant mouth too."

The Walrider's grip on the steering wheel tightened ever-so-slightly, waiting around did not bother him, he was more than used to it, but Alyssa's incessant ranting was beginning to irk him. However, he wasn't bothered nearly as much as he thought he should be, considering for how long she'd been going and fidgeting around, it did surprise him somewhat, as if his tolerance to human antics had increased for no apparent reason.

With mild annoyance, he turned to look at her, just enough for him to see her, but not enough for her to notice him watching her. Almost unbelievably, she was still talking, now about the man she hadn't even met yet.

In a way, it was starting to become amusing, the more he actually watched her display of powerless frustrated venting, the less annoyed he found himself; dared he admit it, it was somehow cute.

Even with the distraction next to him, he didn't fail to notice the man approaching from the car parked near the diner, there was no mistaking, it was Paul Marion.

He could have simply exited the car and walked up to the man, but he didn't quite feel like interrupting Alyssa, not by shutting her up with strict words, at least. A better idea struck him instead.

When she noticed his right hand lift off the steering wheel and come straight towards her head, she immediately shut up, realizing too late for how long she'd been ranting and how annoying she must've been. In the moments she had, she tensed up, preparing for something that would make her regret forgetting to shut her mouth. Feeling his hand grip the hair on the back of her head didn't surprise her too much, as he did that before, and she grew slightly scared when he leaned forward and pulled her towards him, but the last thing she expected were the smooth lips suddenly pressed against hers in a rather demanding manner.

For the next seconds, her mind went entirely blank, her heart skipped a beat and began thumping heavily, which was clearly palpable to him via the nanites on it, drawing a smirk on his lips as he deepened the kiss, content at the effect he immediately had on her.

Alyssa had not the slightest clue why it didn't take too long for her to reciprocate, barely noticeably, but noticeable enough to elicit a low pleased rumble from him, the vibration of which making her go from tense to almost too limp and weak. By then, she was convinced that her cheeks were hot enough to cook on and that there was an army of butterflies in her stomach, she allowed her eyes to close, then couldn't contain a whimper when she felt the shape of a tongue travel across her lower lip, as well as his grip slightly tightening on her hair, yet for reasons she couldn't begin to figure out, it didn't even cross her mind to pull away. The same mind which, at the time, even though it couldn't formulate a coherent sentence if it meant saving her life, still sent a clear message to her: this was completely insane, completely wrong, and she should stop immediately.

By the time she was able to mentally collect herself enough to begin caring, he pulled away, slowly, but only a few inches from her face, just enough to watch the way she was far too embarrassed to look at him, her flush cheeks, the way her heavy chest rose with each shallow breath. The sight and the effect he'd left on her were more satisfying than he'd anticipated, even more so when she noticed the widening smirk through his mask and attempted to pull away, only to relax again when she felt a firm grip of his hand on the back of her neck.

Even if she wanted to speak, she couldn't begin to find any fitting words to lessen her embarrassment, she remained silent for a moment, then slightly tensed up again as she watched his other hand approach her neck. Lack of oxygen was what she instinctively expected in the very near future, but instead, he gently cupped her chin only to turn her head slightly to the side. Pulling her close enough to point with his other hand, he aimed a finger towards one man walking towards the diner and spoke

"Paul Marion."

Alyssa could only swallow and nod once, barely paying attention to the person he was pointing at, his voice stirring the butterflies in her stomach again, even in a neutral tone.

Before he let her go, he lifted her bandanna over her nose, and after he left the vehicle, she finally felt like her lungs could draw breath again, she inhaled and exhaled deeply, but there remained a persistent feeling in the back of her mind that didn't allow her to let go of her embarrassment. It was preposterous, she pushed away the idea that she already missed his closeness, and tried to focus on the situation ahead.

The man that the Walrider was approaching seemed to be in his mid-40s, relatively short and chubby, in the artificial light from the street lamps and store fronts, she could see he had messy short blonde hair, wearing a cream suit with an open jacket and a yellow tie.

He briefly paused to look around, the Walrider appeared to walk past him, but stopped right behind the man's back. Just as he began turning around to enter the diner, Alyssa noticed the man suddenly stop all movement. From the distance and surrounding noise, she couldn't hear the Walrider state his name, along with the location and situation of his daughter, but even from where she sat she could see the way the Murkoff agent's face changed from puzzled to a mixture of horror and anger.

She couldn't help averting her gaze for a few moments, she had never been more emotionally confused and conflicted, still feeling weak in the knees recalling what happened a mere minute ago, and now feeling awful, knowing that he was telling the man what he was going to do to his daughter if he didn't comply. She was well aware that he was a Murkoff agent, albeit a lower rank than Pauline, so it was strange to feel sorry for him, but she reminded herself that her pity was mostly due to his daughter, who, considering the man's age, was likely still young, if not a child, being dragged into this and put in harm's way.

She was slightly confused when they both walked in the darkness of an alleyway between buildings, only to come back out less than a minute later, then it clicked in her mind that it was in order to remove the man's weapon, phone, and potential microchip.

It wasn't long until they began approaching the car, making her heart pick up the pace just slightly, and once they got closer, she noticed the man's face, who looked like he'd seen a ghost. Before getting back in the car, the swarm signaled to Alyssa to move in the back seat; she followed the instructions without hesitation, ignoring the warm feeling in her cheeks when a brief memory of the earlier event surfaced again.

As soon as they both got in and Paul Marion slammed the passenger door shut, the agent began in a cautious, urgent voice, but with a noticeable angry undertone

"Listen pal, I don't know what you want from me, but you're one of those disgruntled Murkoff employees, ex-employees, right? What were you, intelligence department? Tactical spooks? W-whatever the case, I _know_ the toes that had to be stepped on to set up my deal, but let me make this clear, that deal goes to the top. Your boss, my boss, they didn't do shit, it was far above their clearance, so-"

Before Alyssa could wonder what deal he was talking about, the Walrider prevented the man from continuing to waste his breath

"Employee? I'm afraid you aren't that lucky, Mr. Marion."

Paul threw a cautious, puzzled look in the backseat at Alyssa before turning back to the hooded entity with a concerned frown, unable to ignore the deep, gravelly, almost unnatural voice

"Who the hell are you?.." he asked now in a less irritated and more unsettled tone

Alyssa watched with growing unease how the Walrider slowly turned his head ninety degrees until he faced the man entirely, then placed his thumb under the edge of his nanite mask. In a swift motion, he lifted it past where his nose would have been. She blinked in surprise when she saw the grey skull underneath, but her surprise was nothing compared to the Murkoff agent's shock, who immediately panicked, almost jumping from his seat and hitting his head against the roof of the car. His hands quickly reached for the car door as he frantically attempted to open it, only to realize soon enough that it was futile and stopping his efforts, but remaining as far away as physically possible from the entity in the driver's seat.

"This isn't happening…" Paul whispered mostly to himself as his breath grew quick and shallow.

Alyssa swallowed but didn't say a word, she watched as the Walrider calmly slid his mask back down, and Paul shook his head in disbelief after throwing another glance at her "So that's who.. It.. makes sense now.." The man seemed to relax in defeat, until he remembered something else "Where's Pauline? She knew about this, didn't she?"

"Your partner was very willing to set up this meeting, you're going to work undercover until her wound is healed enough."

"Oh my.. Wait, undercover? Wound? What are you ta-"

Paul was suddenly interrupted both by the engine roared awake and the Walrider's dismissive answer "Not right now."

The short drive back to the hotel was mostly silent, and once back at the penthouse, he pushed the man in the same room Pauline was locked in. The look he gave to his partner was nothing short of murderous, Pauline knew he was far from a violent man, on the contrary, he was rather laid-back and casual most of the time, but she knew that this time she crossed the line, she brought his daughter into one of the most dangerous situations Murkoff has ever had to deal with. As furious as her betrayal made him, she also knew that even if he was willing to seriously hurt her or worse, the Walrider wouldn't allow him, as he needed both of them to be able to go out undercover without raising suspicion.

As the Walrider explained to them only that Paul will go and bring back information about other Murkoff employees, at least until Pauline's gunshot was healed enough, Alyssa stood outside the open door and waited. She didn't wait for long, but she still found it increasingly difficult to not rethink about the moments his lips were pressed against hers, the vivid memory making her knees weaken.

The guilt that immediately followed stung, but was interrupted when she heard the sound of the door being closed and locked. Almost automatically, her gaze dropped to the floor near her feet, and her discomfort grew when she spotted another pair of feet stop next to hers. She didn't know she had been fiddling with her hands for the past minute, only realizing it when he reached down and held her hand into his.

"Still hurt?" he asked, but she shook her head, she raised her gaze off the floor, but still didn't look at him as she tried to sound as casual as she could

"No, not at all, actually." Only now did she realize that she hadn't been feeling that dull ache in her hands since a while ago.

Without another word, he walked away, while some nanites began flowing off of him like sand and smoke, some of them dispersing in the air, some changing their position as his shape returned to the usual one. Alyssa's eyes lingered on his back for a while longer, and once he was far away enough, she exhaled a deep breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

As she began leaving too, she heard the voices of the two Murkoff agents, steadily but surely increasing, especially the man's, turning into an argument. It was no surprise to Alyssa, Pauline hadn't only betrayed him, but she dragged his daughter into the whole mess as well, she could only hope Paul wasn't going to leave any marks on her, since that would only make her healing take longer and displease the Walrider.

"The hell you guys been?" Billy's voice suddenly drew her attention as she walked into the living room and only saw him, sitting on the back rest of a sofa.

"Oh, about time you get out of your room, Billy. We went to pick up another.. guest, just don't try to unlock their door. And take your feet off that couch."

"Gee, sorry, _mom_." Billy said jokingly as he hopped down and sat normally, making Alyssa roll her eyes playfully "Any chance we eat tonight?"

His question made her remember that it was well past ten at night and they haven't had any dinner "Oh, right, I'm gonna go order some food. And crap, I just realized that I have to go buy you some clothes soon." She said upon seeing that he was still wearing the hospital gown and headed to the kitchen phone, but paused when she heard Billy's call

"Hey! I, uh.." he started reluctantly, and Alyssa questioned when he looked away without continuing

"What is it, Billy? Go on, you can tell me, we're safe here." At first, she thought she might've said something wrong, since his expression turned into an almost painful frown as he shook his head, until he sighed heavily and pushed himself to speak

"Look, I'm really sorry about what I did. What I.. tried."

His words only drew a confused look from Alyssa "Huh? What are you talking about?"

The young man shook his head again, clearly uncomfortable with his past intentions "I.. tried to kill you.." he finally said with hesitation, then quickly continued when he noticed the concern on the girl's face "I-I never found you, I tried to, I wanted to kill you, because I was afraid, I was fucked up on all the drugs they were pumping into me, I was scared shitless that if the Walrider was gonna switch hosts, I won't be able to control the nanites anymore, I won't be able to keep those fuckers away from me!" he swallowed and turned to her, almost whispering "I thought you were gonna make me defenseless then leave me there with Murkoff…"

Alyssa's expression softened as she listened, but she tried not to sound sad as she spoke "Don't worry about that anymore, Billy, we're safe here, you don't have to kill anyone anymore.."

He only nodded in response, and as she left to the kitchen, she tried to convince herself of her own words, she definitely felt safer at the top of a busy hotel in a busy city with the Walrider at her side than being on the run, but she still couldn't feel too comfortable with the presence of two Murkoff agents only rooms away.

When food arrived, she delivered some to their guests by herself, even though she saw the Walrider standing on the balcony, ready to assist her on the off-chance that either of the agents would try anything.

As expected, however, neither of them did, they seemed rather distant to each other, during the very short time Alyssa spent in their room, she noticed they were sitting as far away from each other as they could; Pauline hadn't looked at her, while Paul sat slumped in an armchair, resting his forehead in his palm.

She had to admit, she did feel awful for the man, it was obvious that he was deeply concerned about his daughter and the danger she'd been dragged into. A need to have a talk with the man crossed her mind, but she was still well aware that he wasn't harmless, she would need a particular someone to be next to her if she planned a conversation with the agent, and the conflicting emotions still haunted her, she couldn't bring herself to walk up to him and ask him for assistance, so she only left the food in the room then locked the door after herself.

On the way to the kitchen, she threw a glance into the living room and saw Billy eating while watching TV, then averted her gaze when she noticed the Walrider in the balcony, turning around in her direction. Speeding up her pace and hoping he hadn't noticed her passing by, she walked out of sight and into the dining room. When she gazed out the window, she noticed the sky was cloudy and dark, but the rain she expected hadn't come at all, and below, she could see the bright lights of the busy city. Both the sight and the refreshing night air convinced her to slide the glass door open and take her dinner to the table on the terrace, which helped to keep her mind away from worries.

Much to her chagrin, however, the change of scenery hadn't distracted her for long, as she ate, she tried to get mentally lost in the noises of the city below, the humming of the airplanes flying above, and the sound of flowing water coming from a nearby decorative fountain, but she wasn't very successful.

A deep sigh left her as she dropped the fork on the side of her plate with a soft clink, she barely ate half of her meal, but her stomach felt strange, she couldn't stop replaying the memory of those moments in the car, and the conflicting emotions relentlessly nagged at both her mind and heart.

 _Why did he do that?.._ The question lingered in her mind, yet she wasn't nearly as concerned with having an answer as much as she thought she should be, what deeply concerned her, instead, was the fact that she responded to what he did, the fact that she was just as guilty, she was more than aware that the moral thing to do would've been to push him away and tell him never to do anything like that again, and the fact that she did the very opposite refused to give her any peace.

As she pushed herself to finish her meal, she gave up trying to block the thoughts and emotions, understanding by then that it was futile, until one more question that made her significantly more uncomfortable crossed her mind.

 _Do you regret it?_

The automatic negative answer that popped in her mind before she could think about it stung, but not nearly as much as the positive feeling she got immediately after asking herself another question.

 _Would you do it again?_

A string of coughs left her as the food slid down the wrong tube in response to her instant emotional answers, she grabbed the glass of water and settled the coughs, but the strong taste of guilt remained in her.

 _Jesus Christ, what are you doing, this is so screwed up…_

Strangely, only later did she finally consider the reality that she hadn't kissed a person, she didn't have feelings for a human, for a living breathing person, but for something else entirely, something whose nature and origin she wasn't even sure of.

The thought lingered in her mind, yet as odd as it was, she didn't find herself bothered by that, what puzzled her more was the fact that it took her that long to actually consider it. While it did add to the conflicting mess of emotions within her, it wasn't by much, she was far more disturbed by what he did to people, what he was capable of doing, and what he was planning to do. Another thought intruded in her mind, insisting that her lack of concern with his non-human nature should be worrisome, but still, her attention remained on her feelings, the moral dilemma, and the situation at hand.

After finishing her meal, she stepped back into the kitchen and cleaned her plates, unable to keep herself from occasionally glancing back over her shoulder, and unwilling to go get Billy's dirty plates from the living room, aware of the possibility of bumping into the Walrider, a possibility which she was even more uncomfortable with, after allowing all her thoughts to run during dinner.

On the way to the bedroom, she made an effort to move quietly, a part of her knew it was silly, but all she wanted was to get to bed and sleep without having to talk to anyone.

Once arrived at her destination without attracting any attention, as far as she could tell, a soft sigh of relief left her as she closed the door behind her and found herself alone in the room. Without wasting any time, she quickly took her clothes off, showered with the new shampoo for dyed hair she bought, brushed her teeth and dried her hair, then dropped herself on the large soft bed.

Then a displeased groan left her when she realized she was ready to sleep but forgot to turn off the lights. Wanting to get it out of the way and get to sleep as soon as possible, she hopped out of bed, flicked the light switches off, and stumbled over the large towel she wrapped around herself. Annoyed further, she decided to toss it back on the rack in the bathroom, and made a mental note to buy some clothes to sleep in at night before throwing herself back in bed, making sure to cover herself with the white silk sheets up to her neck.

Not too long ago, her main concern when it came to sleeping would've been nightmares, not so much anymore, she couldn't decide what was worse, being tormented by reliving the time she spent at the asylum, or being tormented by her own emotions, moral dilemmas, and the future. As expected, sleep came much later than she would've liked, although, to her relief, when it did finally come, it was without nightmares.

It was mostly the bright, late-morning sunlight that brought Alyssa out of her sleep, but as she grew more awake, she started becoming aware of a presence nearby. It was vague at first, and she was easily distracted by the pleasant smooth feeling of the silk sheet on her bare skin, it drew a faint smile of content on her face, until she felt the need to stretch and turn around. After doing so, the movement brought her a lot closer to wakefulness, as well as the fact that, while she laid on her side, she could feel her back exposed from her neck down to her lower back. That, coupled with now being nearly fully awake, suddenly made the presence in the room unmistakably clear.

Her eyes shot open widely upon realizing she wasn't alone in the room, she almost jumped as she quickly turned around, but sighed in relief once she saw the familiar figure of the Walrider, and allowed her head to drop back on the pillow, while making sure she was still well covered by the sheet.

The memories and thoughts from the previous day quickly came back to her, however, and as soon as they did, his presence made her feel uneasy. He sat leaned back on an armchair he pulled next to the bed, resting his feet on the edge of the bed and his hands on his abdomen; only when she dared to throw another glance at him did she notice that she could see the details on his face and body in different shades of grey, it wasn't nearly as clear as the first time he showed her, but clear enough for her to realize that his eyes were aimed right at her.

Immediately, she looked away, not only due to the intimidating sight, and tried to sound calm and casual as she spoke "Good morning..?"

The following silence made her heart thump slightly heavier, for a few seconds, she was afraid that he was upset with her for whatever reason, but she couldn't detect any sort of emotion coming from him.

When he finally spoke, the sudden sound of his voice made her slightly flinch

"You unlocked the door to the Murkoff dogs without me."

His words both relieved and worried her somewhat, on one hand, she was glad that it only seemed to be about her delivering dinner to the Pauls without him present, and on the other, she hoped he wasn't going to be too angry with her about it.

"S..sorry, I did, I just didn't want to bother you with such a small thing, I figured they'd be crazy to try anything, after what you.. after the deal we made with them for their cooperation." Alyssa swallowed, quickly remembering that he could tell if she lied to him, not that she wanted to lie, she would have told the truth regardless, and she was being honest about not wanting to bother him.

Much to her chagrin, after a few more uncomfortable long silent seconds, whatever relief she felt had vanished upon hearing his next words

"You have been avoiding me."

It was less of a question and more of a statement to which he expected an explanation from her, she kept her gaze ahead, towards her feet, as her breath grew slightly shallow and she began feeling a knot in her stomach.

Her mind began racing with the best answer to offer, but her search proved fruitless soon enough, she gave up, and only decided to go with the simple truth again

"I'm sorry, I'm-.. This is really confusing for me." She almost whispered and bit her lip with some anxiety as she waited for a reply, then pushed herself to continue speaking when she only received silence "It's not that I don't.. feel.. like.. I mean I'm well aware that without your help I would've been long dead, or worse, I'm more than grateful to have you by my side, honestly.." another long quiet pause increased her discomfort and heartbeat, yet she still got no answer, only the same expectant look on his face, to which she gave in after a soft sigh of defeat "I don't regret what I did last night, okay? That's not the.. uh, problem.. I just.."

"You think me a monster, don't you?"

His question took her entirely off guard, and even though he sounded neutral, she couldn't help feeling somewhat bad. She recalled the times Pauline had referred to him as a monster, and even though she could perhaps see why from the woman's point of view, she did not feel the same from her own deeper understanding of him

"No, not at all." She shook her head quickly in denial "It's.. 'funny', just earlier I was thinking how your.. nature, is not what bothers me, if that's what you mean. The problem is the moral dilemma that comes with what we're doing, at least to me, and the mess of emotions in me. It's the things.. we supposedly have to do that bother me. That doesn't make you a monster either, but still…"

Before she could continue, she was again taken off guard by his interjection

"And by 'we' you mean me, the things I did, and the things I will do."

She went over his words, and hers, in her head, trying to find a way to express her agreement in a way that wouldn't make her sound condemning of him, but it wasn't an easy task. Eventually, her shoulders slumped in defeat and she nodded, barely noticeably

"Yeah…" was all she could whisper back.

The silence following her admission was even more uncomfortable, she almost wanted to get up and get ready for the day, until she remembered that she wasn't wearing anything under the sheet. When she finally gathered the courage to look at him, she noticed his expression had somehow softened, but when he spoke, he still sounded strict

"Your stubborn righteousness is going to bury you in the hole you dug for yourself by going to the asylum, Alyssa. The people whose ire you provoked by trespassing on Murkoff's territory and intruding on their affairs want you dead, and they're going to use any means at their disposal to accomplish it, do you understand that?"

Slowly, she sat up on the bed and made sure to cover her back before pulling her knees to her chest, his words stung, it was another reminder of the harsh reality she had placed herself into and was now stuck in, but harsh or not, it was true, she gently nodded in response as he continued

"Then you will also understand that we, too, must do anything we can to prevent that from happening. Unless you would prefer to give your life up."

"No!" she immediately responded, raising her voice to clearer levels "That's not going to happen, I'm not gonna give up. I.. I understand, really. It's just that I've seen more than enough death at the asylum, why does it have to keep happening.. I-I mean no, I get why, but I still hate it, I just wish everything would stop, I know they want us dead, but I don't want them dead, I don't want you to kill them, I don't want more people to die, I want things to go back to normal…" she finished in a whisper as she lowered her head to rest on her knees, but his question drew her attention again

"Do you regret it? Do you wish you had never stepped foot near that asylum?"

She wasn't entirely sure, but she could have sworn she detected a hint of bitterness and avoidance in his tone, and when she looked at him, his face was again a solid inky dark blue, all the grey details had vanished.

A painful exhale left Alyssa as his questions brought to the surface the memories from the asylum, as well as the memories of her family, who, while not living too far away, seemed to be an eternity away, rushed through her mind. As much as she missed them, though, and as dire as the situation seemed, the more she thought about it, the more she could see the silver lining of the dark cloud.

"It's strange.. My life was tossed upside down in just a week, but.. my family is still safe. Murkoff still don't know who I am. They're in trouble with the law, and if we have to make more trouble for them to keep ourselves safe, then we will, we have to. I'm.. not happy about it, but you're right, it's either us or them. I guess I'll just have to deal with it.." Feeling the need to stretch her body, she straightened her legs, but kept her arms over her chest to hold the sheet in place, and when she glanced over to the Walrider, she convinced herself to continue "Not everything has been negative."

"I suppose that is a 'no' then?" He said as he crossed his arms over his chest, and despite his seemingly dismissive answer, his tone was significantly gentler, Alyssa nodded and replied with a faint smile

"Yep, that's two 'no's."

"Good. Drowning yourself in depression and regret is of no use." Before she could express her agreement, he continued "Paul will leave on his mission today."

His statement brought an immediate wave of uncertainty and concern within her, she tried not to show it, since she had just said that she understood the measures they will have to go to in order to keep themselves safe and that she will simply have to deal with it

"Oh.. Alright, what exactly is he going to do?" she asked reluctantly, already afraid that she knew the answer

"Retrieve information on the lawyers currently participating in the trial." He replied without skipping a beat and confirming Alyssa's fears.

She didn't know if it was her expression or her sudden emotional shift that gave it away, but he quickly noticed her apprehension and doubt

"You said you understand." He started, but she interjected rather impulsively

"I-I know! I know, I do, sorry, it's just.. not something I can get over in the blink of an eye. I'm not going to argue against it.. It will just take me a while to.. like I said, I'll deal with it."

From the corner of her eye, she noticed his chest briefly rising then dropping, as if in a deep exhale, but when he spoke, he sounded calm again

"Very well. Need to talk to Paul."

Alyssa's attention sparked at that statement, recalling that she wanted to speak to the man as well, but she also realized that she would have to listen to the rest of the conversation, which included the risk of discussions and plans about murder. After a few moments of consideration, however, she decided she needed to listen regardless, like she told herself and the Walrider, she had to deal with the unpleasant measures to which they will have to go to in order to keep themselves safe, and exposing herself to the information was a good way to start.

"I'd like to ask him a few questions too.." she said with some hesitation as her attention returned to the present moment.

The Walrider signaled towards the door with a nod "Let's go then.", with some excitement, she prepared to get up and get ready the moment he stood up and left, except for the fact that he hadn't moved an inch as the seconds passed, he remained in his seat, facing vaguely in her direction.

"Uh…" Alyssa started, this time with the silence making her feel uncomfortable in an awkward manner, still waiting for him to leave.

"What?" he asked in a tone that successfully fooled her into believing he was genuinely confused

"N..nothing.." she shook her head briefly but turned to face away from him to hide her suspicious expression.

Finally, after giving up on waiting for him to leave the room, she awkwardly gathered the large silky sheet and pulled it over and around herself as she stood up. Walking with the material wrapped around herself, partially obscuring her vision, was clumsy, but she only needed to pick up her clothes and take them into the bathroom.

With some haste, she got ready for the day and dressed up, making sure to tie the bandanna around her neck, but leaving her jacket behind. Only when she stepped out of the bathroom did the Walrider stand up and begin floating towards the door, with her closely following.


	32. Chapter 32

Right before they reached the room, Alyssa remembered to raise the bandanna over her nose, and once they stepped inside, the man and woman were unsurprisingly still sitting as far away from each other as they possibly could.

When the Walrider noticed Pauline, however, her black eye was more than obvious, Alyssa felt herself internally shrinking away as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest and she felt his displeasure at the woman's condition, he glanced at the man, but the agent's stare remained on the floor.

"Don't blame me for his lack of self-control." Pauline said, evoking a twitch in her partner's hand, but the Walrider ignored her

"Mr. Marion, we need to talk." He said in a gruff voice with some clear irritation, and the man only nodded weakly "Follow me."

Doing as instructed, he kept his distance from the others as they walked into the living room and the agent sat on an armchair across the couch from the two.

"Who do you need me to help you kill?" Paul said as soon as he took the seat, morbidly surprising Alyssa, until she quickly recalled that his daughter's life was on the line, it made sense that he wasn't hesitant to make himself useful, and his experience with the corporation as well as his talk with Pauline gave him a good clue of how he was expected to make himself useful. At the same time, however, his question, as well as the Walrider's answer, eliminated whatever tiny shred of hope she had that they could avoid outright murder.

"Good start." The swarm said in a slightly pleased tone "What do you know about the lawyers involved in the ongoing trial?"

"Not much, I know some of their names, and the fact that they're busting their asses to get Jeremy Blaire out of this legal mess, the spotlight's on him, since he's the owner and administrator of the asylum."

"The bastard responsible for what happened to all those people in the asylum. I hope he gets to rot in prison, he doesn't deserve a quick death.." Alyssa interjected, mostly thinking out loud, as much as she didn't like what they had to do, Blaire was different, all the suffering that happened in that place was ultimately started and perpetuated by him, she didn't want him to die, only because that would be too light a punishment for what he did.

"I will give you the liberty of choosing the first target, Mr. Marion. You will go back to Murkoff, and your partner will assist you in finding the first lawyer's exact address, daily schedule, security measures and habits, along with any other potentially useful personal information."

A discrete sigh left the man, but he remained compliant "Right.."

"Can I ask you something?" Alyssa spoke with some hesitation

"You don't have to ask my permission, young lady, you're holding me hostage, say whatever you want." Both Paul's bleak tone and his words stung her more than a little, she understood that from his point of view, she was clearly the bad guy, and she couldn't necessarily blame him for thinking that, after all, she was the Walrider's host, the Walrider threatened his daughter's life, and as far as he knew, she had no problem with that.

She knew an explanation of her position wasn't necessary for his continued cooperation, but the guilt pushed her to speak softly

"Mr. Marion.. I know how this looks, but honestly, I'm very sorry about your daughter's safety being dragged into this." She tried to give the man a sympathetic look as much as she could with only her eyes visible "I'm not a bad person.. I don't like what we have to do, I really don't, but we don't have much of a choice. I have a family too, I'm not saying the safety of mine takes priority over yours, but Murkoff want me either dead, or in their custody, and they're going to use any means at their disposal to achieve that. We.. have to fight back somehow. I swear, if I could help it, both you and your daughter would be entirely out of the picture, but I can't do that, your partner sold you out, and we need your help, right now, you're the only one who can protect your daughter, and you can do that by helping us take down Murkoff a notch or two."

The man remained thoughtfully silent for a few seconds, and when he spoke, Alyssa was slightly confused

"Thank you, but.. If only it were that simple."

She quietly scanned the man's expression and mannerisms for a few moments, which only puzzled her further, because he seemed almost conflicted.

"Do you.. actually enjoy working for Murkoff, Mr. Marion? Are you aware of the things they do to people in secret?" Alyssa asked with suspicion and a raised eyebrow, her questions only drawing a deep sigh out of Paul, who briefly rested his head in his palm and ran his hand through his hair with emotional exhaustion

"Oh, Christ no.. I know what they do."

To Alyssa's surprise, he sounded a lot more sorrowful than upset, she gave him a few more seconds, but spoke up when he said nothing else

"Could you.. please tell me what's bothering you, Mr. Marion? Apart from the obvious current situation?.."

She asked with some caution, but also tried to sound kind and not put pressure on him as she added "I would like to know, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

At first, Paul remained hesitant to speak, he took some time to consider both the situation and everything she'd said so far, but it was the latter which convinced him to comply. He didn't trust her, but her words struck him as genuine, and as much as he hated the position he and his daughter were trapped in, he had to admit, it was a relief that at least one of his captors seemed to have a heart.

"I've been hating myself for doing this.. job, for.. I can't even remember anymore. I can't leave, I can't undermine Murkoff if I want my daughter to live. They're keeping her alive.." The man finally said, and received a puzzled yet somewhat concerned look from Alyssa

"What exactly do you mean, Mr. Marion?" she tried to sound as sympathetic as she could, which encouraged him to continue

"It's.. cancer. I watched my wife slowly die the same way, unable to do anything about it. And now I'm watching my daughter.. Murkoff's experimental medication can only slow the damage, they told me they're working on a permanent solution, but I'm not that naive, I know they have priorities, it's only a matter of time until she.." his words faded, but judging from his heartbroken tone and the state of his daughter's health, Alyssa could clearly see how hurt the man was

"I'm very sorry.." she almost whispered as both the man's internal conflict and anguish, as well as the deal he mentioned in the car suddenly made sense to her

"Yeah.. So, I help you bring down Murkoff, if by some miracle that happens, my daughter dies even faster without their medication, I don't help you, he goes and kills my daughter." Paul signaled with his head towards the silent swarm next to Alyssa then sighed painfully.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mr. Marion, cancer can be reduced to an easily eradicated nuisance." The Walrider suddenly interjected "All you would require is a number of nanobots that know what they're doing." He raised a hand and a tiny swarm of nanites emerged from it in the shape of a small cloud, leaving both Alyssa but especially Paul wide eyed and momentarily speechless

"Are.. but.. would you really do that?" she asked in stunned disbelief, almost unable to comprehend the fact that he just indirectly offered to cure the man's daughter's deadly condition, she couldn't help her hopeful tone and tried not to get too optimistic, while Paul continued to stare at the two with his jaw slightly dropped and a mix of shock, doubt and hope on his face.

"Did you not hear him?" her glee was cut down somewhat by his unsympathetic tone "Whatever may happen, his daughter will not survive. He has no real reason to cooperate other than the immediate threat to her life, but she would die in the end regardless. Murkoff can extend her life, so he may take the risk to betray us in the hopes of having her alive for longer, unless I offer him a better deal."

His uncharacteristic, seemingly selfless offer suddenly made sense to Alyssa, she didn't interrupt him as he turned to the man still in a state of disbelief

"This trial is just the beginning, Mr. Marion, the more the corporation will go down the drain, the less they will be able to keep your daughter's condition stable." The man nodded, but his expression turned less shocked and doubtful, and more focused and hopeful "But _I_ can." The Walrider leaned back, resting one skeletal foot on his other knee "Give me your complete loyalty, do not betray me, do everything you can to undermine Murkoff, and _I will_ permanently eradicate every cancer cell in your daughter's body."

Alyssa couldn't help feeling sentimental when she noticed the look on the man's face, she had never seen someone more full of hope. Even though she understood the reason the Walrider made his offer was purely logical and not out of kindness, she still felt a warmth inside herself, Paul seemed very sincere and heartbroken over his daughter, and she was glad that he took no pleasure in working for Murkoff, almost ironically, he was only being held hostage by the fact that only they could slow his daughter's disease, until now.

"S-so.." Paul finally started, clasping his trembling hands together "I could say I'm gonna help you, rat you to Murkoff, and hope they can stop you before you go kill my daughter… Or I can go out there and risk my ass to help you bring them down and believe that you'll save her life."

"I have not told a lie in over fifty thousand years, Mr. Marion, the concept is alien to me. Your daughter is being held in the medical wing of a Murkoff facility in Washington D.C., infiltrating it will not be an easy task, but I will hold my end of the deal and save her life if you remain loyal to us. You have my word, for whatever that may be worth from a being such as I."

Alyssa watched him through the corner of her eye, again very surprised by his words, but this time by his attitude as well. She knew he was unwilling to lie to her, but she hadn't anticipated such a promise towards another person, she had to admit to herself, it was endearing, and oddly somewhat honorable. Luckily for her, the bandanna hid the small smile on her face well.

"I don't know who you are…" Paul started with unexpected determination "I don't know what the hell you are… But I know what nanobots are, and what can be done with them. I'll go to the ends of the Earth to save my daughter.." A deep sigh left the man, but this time mostly out of relief "As long as she'll end up walking away from this healthy, I'll do anything, I'll put my life on the line."

"Good to have your complete cooperation, but do not be so hasty, once you walk out of this building, Murkoff should be your main concern." The Walrider interrupted "Your partner will join you on the field soon enough, but you both must remain undercover, if they discover your true intentions, I will not be able to help what happens to you or your daughter, do you understand?"

Paul understood too well, he nodded with the same determination "I know, that's all on me, and Pauline."

"Speaking of your partner.." Alyssa interjected as she cleared her throat "She has a fiance, doesn't she? She was made to.. cooperate with us by the same method as we got you at first. Can she really be trusted, Mr. Marion? She has a family too, and she seemed to be concerned with their safety, but, uh.." Alyssa's words faded with some discomfort, but the man knew full well what she was talking about

"Pauline's a psychopath." His sudden comment took her off guard in an almost amusing manner "You don't want to know the things she did to people while working at Murkoff, shit, before too, I don't know why she's so open to me about it, she really thinks she's untouchable."

"I.. see." Alyssa responded, still with some discomfort, unsure what to say, but not surprised by his statement "What I mean to say is.. Do you think she can be trusted? Do you think threats to her loved ones are enough to ensure her loyalty? As I said, she did seem to be concerned with their safety, but.. you did also just say she's a psycho, I noticed that much by now, what if she doesn't actually care? Does she actually love her family? What if she doesn't and plans to double-cross us at the earliest opportunity?"

"Oh, no. She cares, trust me, I've known her for over eight years, I know her personally, she loves them." His quick answer somewhat surprised her, he seemed very sure of his words as well "If there's anything I learned while working for Murkoff, it's that there's a lot of psychos like her out there, young lady, people who do unspeakable things to strangers, but who'd fall to their knees if you did something to their own children, to their own parents, to their own lovers. I know, doesn't make much sense, if they knew what they do to others, most people wouldn't shy away from calling them monsters, but, somehow, even monsters can love."

Alyssa didn't know why his last words lingered in her mind, but she didn't want to dwell on it "That.. is good to know.."

"Well then, when do we start? I'm ready, but I might need Pauline's access codes." The man changed the subject, appearing rather lively and focused

"Come." They both followed the Walrider, who began floating towards the room where the woman was locked in.

Pauline gave him notes with her passwords and codes without a second thought, and while they talked, Alyssa went to the kitchen and prepared a small pack of ice.

When she returned, she tossed it to the woman from a distance, she caught it, but gave her a puzzled look in return

"Makes the swelling and bruise go away faster.." Alyssa briefly signaled to her eye, and Pauline placed the ice over her bruised eye, but not without whispering to herself, inaudible to Alyssa

"No shit…"

"Got all the numbers, but that's not all we use for security, like everyone probably knows, Murkoff specializes in biometric security. I'll do what I can with Pauline's access codes, my clearance is not that lower than hers, but still, we're not gonna be able to get too far until she can come with me and use her fingerprints and eyes for the higher security clearance scanners." Paul said as he placed the notes in his coat pocket.

"Not necessarily, I took the liberty of shaping a thin layer of skin on the fingers of your right hand, identical in shape to Pauline's prints and made from her own skin, you may peel it away if necessary." The Walrider said, and Paul raised a curious eyebrow and his hand to his face; taking a closer look at his fingers, he could barely detect a different layer of fingerprints over his own "As well as rearranging both the blood vessels on your retina and your iris pattern in your left eye. Your left eye is virtually Pauline's, right now."

"Oh? Sounds good. Are.. you alright?" Alyssa questioned when she noticed the sudden concerned look on Paul's face, but he shook his head

"I'm fine. Yeah, it's.. It just makes me think what Murkoff could do with nanobots if they had more time."

To that, the Walrider crossed his arms and spoke with an air of pride "Rest assured, Mr. Marion, whatever progress they could've made would've been minuscule, their best subject was Billy Hope, whose abilities had to be artificially enhanced, and even then, they were far inferior to mine."

"Hm, how humble." Pauline commented with a smirk, but Paul returned to business

"Well, knowing what I know about Murkoff, I can say that's for the best. I'll be back as soon as I can, give me at least two days, and I'm gonna pick up my gun from where I left it on the way, you can take it from me when I'm back."

"Good idea, you need to appear as if you just came back from the visit to your daughter." Alyssa said, and Paul nodded then looked to his partner

"You'd better have a good cover-up story for when you're ready to go back too."

"Oh don't you worry about me, just bring me back my cigarettes, left them in my office. Buy a new pack if you can't find them."

Paul briefly rolled his eyes at his partner, not content with the task of being her errand boy, especially in the current crucial situation, then mumbled an acknowledgement anyway.

Once any other details were sorted out, the agent left the penthouse, and the building, ready and determined to start a number of high-risk missions in order to save his daughter's life.

For most of the day, Alyssa remained only slightly nervous, the future still haunted her, but she tried to keep herself busy. From the closest stores to the hotel that she could find, she bought food and more clothes, including some t-shirts and pants for Billy, as well as a pair of white pajamas with a pink flower pattern for herself, not feeling comfortable with sleeping in the nude after the surprise she had that morning.

As time passed, she found herself thinking about hearing a knock on the door from the returning, now undercover, Murkoff agent more and more, she didn't even know what she wanted, she knew that if he returned, it would almost surely be with information on a person they would have to find and eliminate, but if he wouldn't return, she didn't even want to imagine the trip to Washington and what the Walrider would do to the man's daughter and everyone who stood in his way.

Pacing around the large apartment in an attempt to ease the concerns lingering in her mind, she walked onto a terrace with a Jacuzzi. The sun was just beginning to set, and the thought of relaxing in warm water, under the clear sky while watching the sun go down was more than a little appealing, yet she still couldn't bring herself to feel at ease while knowing what awaited in the very near future.

* * *

 **I know that in the comics, Paul's daughter actually has a hereditary autoimmune blood disease, but even the causes of autoimmune diseases are still pretty unknown, I wouldn't know how to come up with a cure unless I made up something that could've been too unbelievable, so I changed it to something more "manageable" like cancer, hope nobody minds.**


	33. Chapter 33

Once evening came, she settled in her bedroom and tried to keep herself distracted by watching television and playing video games, but she had no idea why the Walrider soon joined her in the room and remained there, sitting on the same armchair next to the bed from that morning. She tried to talk to him, multiple times, mostly unsuccessfully, as he ignored her comments and questions more often than he replied with one or two words.

That by itself wouldn't have been too unusual, she knew he wasn't always talkative, but the fact that she could feel his gaze on her almost the entire time, regardless of what kind of boring task she was doing, was what puzzled her, and admittedly, ever-so-slightly unsettled her. From the discreet glances she occasionally threw at him, she noticed that the grey details on his face and body became increasingly more clear and defined as time passed, she knew that meant he gathered more nanites on his body, but felt hesitant to ask him why.

Even though she ate dinner a lot easier than she ate breakfast, at least with less emotional concerns, a crave for something sweet suddenly struck her, and she jokingly thanked herself for deciding to buy some sweets during the earlier shopping. On the way to the kitchen, she flicked some lights off, only to quickly turn them back on, as the night came quicker than she realized, and her paranoia didn't allow her to be comfortable with that much darkness in the large rooms of the penthouse.

When she came back to her bedroom with a chocolate bar, she wasn't surprised to see the Walrider in the same place, she ignored him and began eating her sweets as she dropped herself on the bed with a few bounces and flipped through TV channels again.

"Think the Parks are safe? Wonder how they're doing.." Alyssa said somewhat absentmindedly.

After a few long silent seconds that made her believe she was going to be ignored again, the Walrider finally spoke, slowly, in a voice even more gruff than usual, which made her pause

"Perhaps…" he sounded entirely uninterested in the subject, yet somehow distracted at the same time, and the fact that she could still feel his stare on her back set a faint frown on her face.

She quickly shook it away, however, and continued munching on her chocolate bar; she remained casual, but still couldn't get over the feeling that he was making her feel uneasy in a different way than before. It took her more time than she was willing to admit to gather the courage to turn back and look at him, and when she did so, she only felt more tense upon noticing that he was leaning forward on the armchair, resting his elbows on his knees, with his clawed fingers intertwined, while his eyes remained fixed on her.

Alyssa felt her own eyes linger, as the nanites on him had shifted into mainly a silver color, with darker shades of grey and black accentuating and defining almost every muscle on his body, then did her best to still appear nonchalant as she quickly turned away and took another bite out of the chocolate

"I was thinking.. maybe I should call Waylon? Just to see if they're safe?" she said somewhat awkwardly with the food in her mouth, and once again, she only got an answer after a long pause throughout which she continued to feel stared down

"No.. Not now." Just as before, he seemed distracted and uninterested in both her words and his own.

After the same thing happened with her next few comments, her desire to ask him if something was wrong had increased to the point where she could almost do it, but she didn't know why she still couldn't bring herself to question him.

Soon, she once again gave up on trying to find something entertaining on the TV, and she decided, strange behavior or not, she needed to go to bed soon.

Holding what little was left of her chocolate bar in her mouth, she walked up to the bag on the sofa containing some of the things she bought earlier and pulled out the new pajamas, slightly eager to put the comfortable clothes on, check them out in the large mirror on the wall, then slip into bed, even though she could hear the muffled sound of party music from the floor below.

As soon as she laid the long-sleeved cotton shirt and pants on the bed, however, she was a little startled by the Walrider's voice, it was the first time in a long time that day when he initiated a conversation

"What is that?"

She noticed his grey eyes looking at the clothes on the bed, and felt ever-so-slightly more uneasy when he aimed them back at her

"Uh, just my new pajamas, I needed something to sleep in." she said with a small shrug

Even after all that happened, she still couldn't bring herself to look at him for more than a few seconds when she could see all the crisp details on his face, she wasn't used to it, and his face was more intimidating and downright frightening than she would be willing to admit, but in the moments when she did look, she could have sworn she noticed an expression of disapproval and displeasure.

"No.. That won't do.." his words confirmed her suspicion, while the low rumble she heard from him before he spoke them made her temporarily lose her train of thought, but soon, she didn't shy away from showing her confusion with a faint puzzled frown and expressing it out loud too

"I.. don't know what you're talking about, like I said, need something to sleep in and this is good enough."

Silence followed her statement, and she began placing some of the clothing items she bought into drawers, still trying to ignore the feeling of his gaze continuing to track her every move.

Soon after she finished the last bite of her chocolate bar, his voice made her lightly flinch again

"I could feel that. Scarcely…"

Once again, she did not hide the confusion on her face as she turned to him

"Okay.. What the heck are you on about, Wally? You keep acting strange.." she asked with some hesitation, expecting either to be ignored or receive no explanation, but his reply with a question only puzzled her further

"Do you know what dopamine is?"

"Uh.. Kind of, I remember it's something in the brain, right? Why, do we have to have biology lessons now or something? What's this about?" Alyssa raised a rather suspicious eyebrow, she still wasn't comfortable with how his gaze refused to leave her as he spoke

"Dopamine is an organic chemical, a neurotransmitter released by neurons in the brain during pleasurable activities, such as eating food you enjoy."

Without really knowing why, she noticed her heart rate begin to rise "O-oh, right, I remember now." She interrupted a short pause that she thought she found awkward "Like eating food I enjoy.. Like that chocolate. What did you.. mean though?" her voice faded, but he heard her clearly enough.

"There could be other factors at work, that, I do not know for sure… What I do know, is that the nanites in your brain allowed me to feel the dopamine released by your neurons as you.. enjoyed that chocolate."

Alyssa swallowed and took a few discreet steps away, unsure why she was growing increasingly nervous, apart from his continuous piercing stare; she tried to busy herself with anything in the room, but her effort was stopped before it even really began

"Come here." He spoke in a mostly neutral tone, not enough to convince her to immediately comply; she turned to briefly look at him and tried to sound casual while browsing through a drawer

"Huh? What is it?"

After a few increasingly tense moments on her part, she heard him again, significantly more serious and strict

"Come here."

She knew she was pushing her luck, but she couldn't get over the apprehension she felt, she kept doing her best to appear calm and nonchalant as she spoke

"What is it? I can hear you loud and clear from here, you kn-"

For a moment, she thought her heart was going to drop in the pit of her stomach when she was abruptly interrupted by an almost demonic voice, loud but low and gravelly, echoing both in the room and inside her own mind

" ** _Come here!_** "

Momentarily stumbling over her own feet, she quickly walked around to the other side of the bed and stopped a few feet in front of where he sat; despite the frightening demand, she wasn't able to detect any real anger coming from him, but she still felt unwilling to make a sound, she only stood quietly in place while her chest rose and sank with shallow anxious breaths.

The Walrider hadn't moved, yet from the short discreet glance she managed, she noticed his gaze was slowly traveling down her body. An urge to move away almost pushed her to step back, it took great effort to resist it, knowing full well it wouldn't be a good idea, and when she opened her mouth to speak, her weak attempt ended in failure.

After tense long seconds that felt like minutes to her racing mind, the Walrider finally stood up, and by the time he did, her heart was already threatening to beat its way out of her chest. Once he took a large step towards her and suddenly placed both hands on the sides of her head, trapping her in a solid firm grip, however, she couldn't contain herself anymore.

"What the heck?! What are you doing?!" a whimper escaped her, she grabbed his wrists and made a futile attempt to free herself, but tried to relax when his grip tightened just slightly and he pulled her right next to him

"Be still." Alyssa made an effort to comply both because she was willing to, but also due to the fact that he pulled her upwards to the point that she had to stand on her toes, and tilted her head up, making her look up directly at him, the sight being more than intimidating enough to quell any protests she had "I am only infusing more nanites into your brain."

Her eyes quickly widened upon hearing his statement, only after the previous brief panic had passed did she start to become aware of the tingling sensation on the sides of her head, just to feel another wave of dismay come at the idea of nanites entering her brain, which was again mostly washed away by his voice

"Don't fret, they have been there for a week, we only need more, and you will not be able to feel a single one, brain tissue lacks pain and tactile receptors."

Alyssa allowed her eyes to close and made an effort to breathe deeper and relax. Nearly a minute later and significantly calmer, she grew increasingly aware of the uncomfortable angle her neck was held in place at, and a brief thought passed through her mind: continuing to hold her like that wasn't necessary, she wasn't hoping to run away anymore, and if for whatever reason he still found it necessary, her neck would've appreciated it if he wasn't nearly a foot and a half taller than her.

Very soon, she noticed that the tingling on the sides of her head drastically diminished until it fully ceased, but he spoke before she did

"Do you know what else triggers neurons to release dopamine, Alyssa? A _tremendous_ amount of dopamine?"

Still too distracted to think about biology, she managed to shake her head lightly, since his grip on her had loosened, and mumble "What?.."

His response, although in the form of a single word, made her pause and try to process if she really heard it or if her brain was playing tricks on her

"Orgasm."

Very soon, her eyes started to widen in realization, she didn't have time to make a sound, as she was suddenly tossed onto the bed, landing on her stomach with a small yelp. Out of a mixture of fright, embarrassment, and instinct, she began crawling away, but her effort was quickly stopped by his weight and grip on her arms, pinning and pushing her down onto the mattress, drawing a fearful gasp out of her.

Above her, the Walrider leaned down enough to speak close to her ear, his words and voice sending a few shivers down her spine

"Don't resist me, overpowering you would be an easy task, but that would not be as entertaining.."

Alyssa felt herself slightly physically relax, she hadn't even done it entirely purposefully; she drew a deep unsteady breath into her lungs in an attempt to calm both her racing heart and mind, still in some disbelief of what was happening. Slowly but surely, it began to work, until she felt one of his hands release her arm then grasp her hair and slowly move it away from her neck, just to lean in right next to her ear and whisper

"So, what say you? Will you play along?"

As if she didn't have enough reason to be unfocused, she was further distracted by the smooth feeling of the contact on her ear and cheek. She swallowed, struggling to gather her thoughts and emotions, uncertain how to answer, and if she could even bring herself to answer with words. It didn't take her long to accept the fact that her effort was futile, her mind refused to stop racing, and eventually, all she could offer in response was a weak nod. It was an emotional decision, that much she was able to tell, she was well aware that it could very easily be a terrible idea, but at the same time, there was an underlying sense of curiosity in her that pushed her to comply.

The mess of racing thoughts and feelings in her head was abruptly cut short when she heard the pleased deep rumble from the entity above her

"Good girl…" before she could react, she felt herself tense again when he continued in a somewhat strict tone "Turn around."

He released his grip from her other arm, leaning above her just high enough to allow her to flip herself over.

For a few seconds, Alyssa didn't move, still attempting to calm herself with deep yet shaky breaths. It didn't take her long to understand it was in her best interest to obey, however, so she very slowly began turning herself around.

Once she was laying on her back under him, the Walrider was slightly amused to see how red her cheeks already were, it made him wonder how she would react later, especially since she was also already averting her gaze from him.

"Look at me." He simply said, and immediately noticed the hesitation on her face, but she soon complied, turning to look at him with a mixture of shyness and fear.

With some anticipation, he slowly lifted himself into a straddling position over her so she could have a better view, raised one finger towards his own face, and his amusement grew while he watched Alyssa's eyes widen at his next action. The teeth in his skull were still visible through the gaps in the layer of nanites on it, whose pattern made his mouth look almost partially sown shut, but he opened it just enough to push his index finger in on the right side. Alyssa's jaw slightly dropped when he suddenly pulled his own jaw open, tearing the connections, and a long tongue slithered out of his mouth, similar in color and pattern to the rest of him.

When he began leaning back down towards her neck, she was glad she wasn't standing up, willing to bet that her knees wouldn't be able to hold her at that point, and once his tongue made contact with her skin, she couldn't suppress a sound of contentment. Even though it was barely audible and very short, he caught it clearly, and gave her neck a light bite. It instantly drew a sharp inhale out of her, his teeth weren't pointed, but they were definitely sharper than a normal person's.

In a mostly subconscious defensive action, she slowly moved her hands over her breasts, which, due to the proximity, brushed against his own chest. After a very brief pause from him, his tongue began slowly traveling from her neck, down past her collar bone and towards her cleavage, leaving a small, faint trail of grey nanites behind it. A few inches from her breasts, he slowly rose to look at her, and unsurprisingly, by the time he did, she turned her head to face away.

Even so, he could see both her mouth and eyes half open as her chest rose and dropped with shallow hot breaths, still in some disbelief and embarrassment at what was happening, and what might happen in the very near future. After taking in the sight, he rather roughly grabbed her jaw and turned her to face him again, Alyssa didn't have time to react, as in the next moment she felt his lips slam against hers.

That, by itself, she knew how to react to, she found herself closing her eyes and kissing him back earlier and with a lot more eagerness than she would be willing to admit; when he deepened the kiss, she followed his example and pushed away the brief urge to place her hands over his neck, but when she felt his tongue suddenly invade the private space of her mouth, she didn't know how to react. She found herself momentarily frozen, until his hand slid over her breast and gave it a sudden rough squeeze. It was more than enough to both elicit a muffled squeal out of her and encourage her own tongue to join the action, although it remained mostly dominated by his.

When he pulled himself out of her mouth, his tongue left a faint trail of nanites behind which Alyssa felt on her lips while she caught some of her breath, she dragged a finger over her bottom lip and upon examining the result, she noticed a mixture of saliva and nanobots that she could also feel in her mouth. A very brief playful giggle escaped her before she even realized it, and once she did, she instantly wished she suppressed her reaction, as she felt his hand tightly grab her hip and pull it closer, and saw the wicked smirk on his face.

The amusement on her own face immediately vanished and her body tensed again, then relaxed ever-so-slightly when he released her hip, only to feel her heart starting to thump heavily moments later, realizing that his hand moved to grasp the bottom edge of her navy-blue tank top and slowly began lifting it, the tips of his pointed nails barely touching her skin teasingly.

The sudden wave of fright tried to push her to act nearly instinctively, it took great effort to resist the urge to grab his wrist with both hands in an attempt to halt his progress, but that urge was washed away almost entirely when she felt the smooth touch of his hand under her lower back, lifting her off the bed just enough to continue raising her top off.

With some disbelief that she was really willingly doing it, she lifted the top over her head and gently tossed it aside on the bed, leaving her in her black bra, and feeling as if her cheeks were on fire while she noticed his gaze pause on her chest then begin traveling down.

As exposed as she felt, however, she couldn't deny that there was a sense of perverse pleasure at what was happening, a part of her wanted to openly admit and express it, but she was still far from being able to do so.

The moment his hand reached for her jeans and unbuttoned them, however, another wave of hesitation and embarrassment suddenly flooded her, it was even more difficult to resist the urge to stop him, yet at the same time, that sense of perversion pushed itself to the surface of her mind, quenching some of the panic that tried to rise as he pulled her zipper down.

Almost teasingly slowly, he pulled the edge of her pants down, exposing the thin black straps of her thong. Feeling too embarrassed to look either down or especially at him, she kept her gaze on the white ceiling, entirely unaware of the way she wiggled her hips ever-so-slightly, as if trying to help him remove her tight pants. Her movement drew a brief satisfied deep chuckle out of him, which only puzzled her.

Her confusion wasn't allowed to distract her for long, as in a rather quick motion, he pulled her pants below her hips, peeled them off her legs then tossed them on the floor.

Before he could lean back down over her, however, Alyssa immediately crossed her legs together tightly. Her gesture drew a semi-serious displeased sound out of him, even more so when she made an attempt to cover her chest with her hands.

"Off." He simply said with a nod towards her bra.

Alyssa bit her lip rather tightly, more than a little hesitant to obey this time. Slowly, she began moving her hands, the Walrider watched her attentively, yet much to his chagrin, her hands rose up to her face instead, and touched her cheeks.

She wasn't surprised at all to feel the hot skin, but she was quickly encouraged to comply by his words

"Do you want me to tear it off?"

With a small playful moan of protest, her lightly trembling hands reached behind herself, unhooked the bra, then placed it aside, not without quickly covering her breasts with her other arm as best she could. Once again, her gesture earned his disapproval, but it would have been too easy to simply grab her arm and move it away, so he decided to approach the issue differently.

Alyssa's eyes grew wider with apprehension as she watched him move back towards her hips, his fingers pulled the straps of her thong lower, not low enough to uncover her, but low enough to make her legs tense up and tighten together.

Because she still held her arms across her ample chest while she laid down, she couldn't see what he was doing, she could only feel it, and a sharp exhale left her when she felt his smooth tongue suddenly make contact with the skin below her navel. At first, it began moving downwards, excruciatingly slowly, and the more it did, the more Alyssa could feel her arms over her chest relax, and the less she could feel herself able to breathe easily.

To some relief, his tongue changed direction once it reached the low line of her panties, beginning to slither upwards past her belly button, something she thought she could handle better, until his grip on her hips tightened, digging his claws into her flesh deep enough to cause some discomfort without pain, and she felt the vibration from his low rumble on the sensitive skin of her abdomen.

She quickly moved a hand sloppily over her mouth after she failed to suppress a small moan, and her desire to keep her arms around her chest continued to decrease, in part due to the feeling that she needed to draw more air into her lungs.

His grip on her hips loosened, leaving behind faint marks in the shape of his pointed nails, and began sliding up the narrowing curve of her waist, the silky-smooth sensation of which pressing Alyssa to make an effort to contain a pleasured mewl, while her arms slid mostly off her chest, only her hands remaining, partially covering her breasts.

Once his large hands reached her ribcage, almost entirely encompassing her tiny waist, she realized his tongue had free reign to slither between her breasts, she felt herself drawing in a shaky breath in anticipation, but to her surprise, he stopped and pulled back just as he reached her chest, then looked back down at her abdomen.

She watched him with some confusion, until he slid his thumb over a particular spot on her skin, and when he moved it over a different area, she had a closer look down and noticed the points of interest were the scars caused by the bullets that pierced her flesh in the underground laboratory. Even in her hazy state of mind, the realization quickly brought back a flood of memories, everything she had been through at the asylum, how close she had been to death numerous times, how unfathomably terrified she felt when she first saw him in front of the Morphogenic Engine, when he first chased her down, when his nanites first entered her, how convinced she was that her life was over as she laid in that growing puddle of her own blood, and how ironic it was that it was him, the one who initially instilled so much dread into her, that saved her life so many times, that without whom, her corpse would be burned or ditched in a nameless grave, robbed of her life and any chance to see her family ever again.

Even though her cheeks were still burning, a long sigh left her and she felt considerably more relaxed, it was more than obvious that she owed her life to him, but she would be lying if she said that was the only reason why she felt herself loosen up. By that point, she was willing to freely admit to herself that she liked him, and she had to make an effort to block the guilt and negative thoughts that instantly tried to follow her admission, not wanting to ruin the moment.

With a trace of fearful reluctance, she moved her hands off of her hardening nipples and placed them on his shoulders. Her gesture quickly drew his attention, but she averted her gaze as he began leaning in closer again, preferring to think her fingers slid over his firm biceps due to his own movement. She still enjoyed the sensation, content with her ability to do so discreetly, until she suddenly felt his tongue on her skin again, traveling up between her breasts and circling a nipple before she felt it gripped between a sharp set of teeth. A sound of protest escaped her that seemed more pleased and thrilled than dissatisfied, her shame didn't have much time to kick in, as her squeal was followed by a muffled chuckle from him, as well as his hand suddenly grabbing her other breast, squeezing and kneading it somewhat roughly.

It took considerably more effort than she anticipated to resist the urge to freely move her hands on him, even more so when he began pinching and playing with her nipple, both of which had already turned hard as pebbles, then a sudden realization struck her when another bite made her hips twitch: her panties were more than slightly damp.

 _Oh, fuck…_ The idea to simply express herself out loud crossed her mind, but she decided to make an effort to remain quiet.

To her supposed dread, his hand soon began sliding back down the curve of her waist and pausing on her hip as he pulled himself off her chest only to begin pulling her thong down. Almost reflexively, she quickly tightened her legs close together again, attempting to stop him.

Without wasting any time himself, his hand slid inside the gap between her thighs, easily grabbing her thong and not-so-accidentally brushing his thumb over her sensitive clit as he pulled the material down.

"Fuck!.." the fact that she failed to contain herself embarrassed her, not as much as the way she half-moaned the word did, and not nearly as much as his chuckle and reply did

"So eager now, good."

Realizing her panties were already around her knees, she reluctantly uncrossed her legs and didn't protest when he tossed the flimsy material away. She felt her breath freeze in her lungs again when he leaned back down over her, but didn't attempt to cross her legs again, something she thought she regretted the moment his hand reached down, grabbing her thigh and attempting to pull her legs apart, only to be met with quick resistance.

The Walrider had to admit, his patience was beginning to drop, he was curious to see just how much of the dopamine in her brain he would be able to feel upon orgasm, yet at the same time, he very much enjoyed making her squirm, and forcing himself on her would take away that satisfaction.

The deep rumble she heard from him concerned her ever-so-slightly, as it almost sounded like a growl, but she suppressed a pleasured mewl when his hand began slowly traveling back up, his claws barely touching the surface of her skin as they passed over her breasts, the sensation raising a few hairs on the back of her neck.

She found her tongue briefly lick and wet her bottom lip when she noticed him leaning in towards her again, only for his face to bury in the crook of her neck and speak close to her ear

"Touch me."

His demand took her off guard, for a moment, she felt herself obeying almost subconsciously, she weakly tried to clench her fists in an attempt to resist and relaxed her hands back on the bed, then nearly jumped and a small squeal escaped her when his hand abruptly reached down and roughly squeezed her buttock

"Do you think I don't know how you enjoy touching me, _Alyssa_?" he said in a clear teasing tone, making her bite her lip to keep herself quiet.

A few more seconds of hesitation was all the time he gave her before he spoke again, in a significantly more serious tone

"Touch me, or I'm going to fuck you right now until you can't stand up."

His words had instant different effects on her, despite her effort, a pleased and almost playful mewl escaped her, she felt her legs as well as her womanhood twitch in response, the latter of which he also was aware of, due to the nanites inside her. Unseen to her, a wicked smirk set on his face while he made a mental note of her reaction.

After that, it didn't take her long to comply, her hands moved over and up his broad back, with decreasing hesitation as her fingers took in the delightful silky sensation of the smooth yet solid surface of his nanite skin. Once she reached his shoulders, she continued down past his chest, but as much as she enjoyed sliding her fingers along his abdomen, her progress quickly halted when she reached lower. Just as she began to remove her hand, however, his own hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and held it in place.

Taking a deep breath in through her mouth, she tried to remain calm as he pressed her hand against himself and continued to push it further down.

"I.." Alyssa managed to whisper, barely audible enough to even hear herself, she felt as if the bones in her hand had vanished when he made her fingers rest over his bulge for a few moments. When he began pulling her hand back up, however, the breath in her lungs froze and she found herself entirely unable to make a sound even if she wanted to protest. From his bulge, up towards his navel, she could clearly feel a thick phallic shape begin to emerge, until it fully formed a cock similar in silver and greyish colors as the rest of him, but far more sizeable than she would be ready for.

Gradually, her jaw dropped and her gaze remained fixed at a random point in the room while her brain attempted to accept what was going to happen, until his voice snapped her out of it

"You're gonna have to open a lot wider than that.." he said teasingly, and before she could process his words, he had already moved her hand away, pushed her legs open and settled himself between them, pressing the underside of his cock over her already sensitive clit and drawing a small moan out of her, both out of pleasure and surprise.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Alyssa managed to blurt out between quick anxious breaths "I've never even done this before! I-I mean come on.." her voice faded, too embarrassed to explain how he would hurt her.

The Walrider remained thoughtfully silent for a few moments, and when she dared a quick glance up at him, she noticed what would be his eyebrows rise

"How old are you?"

She didn't know why his question slightly amused her, in hindsight, she figured it was mostly out of nervousness.

"T..twenty-two. And lucky if I make it to twenty-three.."

He ignored her pessimistic comment, intending to make her forget such thoughts soon.

"Good…" he slowly dragged out the word in a husky tone that sent a few chills down her spine "I am going to ruin you for any human."

This time, she wasn't sure if it was her fault for not trying hard enough to suppress her small mewl or if she simply didn't care enough to keep herself quiet anymore, but even without her audible reaction, the twitch inside her womanhood gave it away, and he decided to take advantage of that.

"You like that… don't you?" he teasingly said as he tried to look at her, and predictably, she quickly averted her gaze, she was nowhere near ready to admit that his words were more than a little arousing.

Without warning, he lifted his hips off of her, the lack of pressure sent a hint of displeasure to her, one that hadn't lasted, as he soon slid one finger insider her pussy as far as it could go, its entrance being only mildly uncomfortable thanks to how wet she was. As he anticipated, she wasn't able to hold back a louder moan, and her hands made a barely noticeable attempt to push him away by the shoulders, mostly only managing to slightly dig her nails into the nanites skin.

"You can try to conceal it.." he said lowly as he began moving his finger in and out of her in short but deep thrusts, she bit her lip tightly in a half-hearted attempt to suppress another moan, which was successful, until his thumb suddenly began rubbing her clit in a circle, and she tried to wrap her legs around his hips almost reflexively before she stopped herself, while the desire to silence herself decreased to the point that she didn't care about the short string of satisfied playful mewls she allowed to escape her "But you can't conceal it from me."

 _Fuck, I don't know if I even still want to.._ Her hazy mind managed to think with amusement as a smirk grew on her lips. She was too distracted to realize it, but the Walrider saw her expression clearly.

Even his long patience had limits, and considering the fact that he could tell she was already soaked and aroused, coupled with his growing curiosity of what the dopamine release in her brain upon orgasm would feel like, he decided to move forward.

"Enough of this.." With some eagerness, he slid his finger out of her, sleek and coated in her juice. The abrupt feeling of emptiness set a small pout on her face, but then both her body and the breath in her lungs briefly froze when she suddenly felt the slightly pointed shape of his tip push against her nether lips.

Without even thinking, she made a weak attempt to push herself away, that was quickly foiled as he grabbed a firm hold of her hip and pushed himself in, making very small progress, which, judging from the distressed look on Alyssa's face, was clearly uncomfortable.

She closed her eyes tightly, both in pain and due to her unwillingness to look at what was happening, then, on a whim, she decided to have a quick glance, and only managed to catch a glimpse of the wicked grin on his face as he looked down at her and continued to push himself inside her soaked but tight entrance.

 _Holy shit is this really- oh my fucking- relax, relax! Just breathe and relax or else it's gonna hurt worse, I thi-_

"Aaah!" a painful whine left her once he pushed the whole head inside her, but she made an effort to follow her own advice by drawing in deep breaths and attempting to relax her nether muscles.

She didn't know if it was her own actions or something else that allowed his cock to push further in with less discomfort for her, even so, it was too long and slow for her to continue staying silent

"It.. hurts.." she mumbled through gritted teeth "Like.. a.. bastard.."

To her surprise, he leaned in closer and shushed her as he ran a finger down her cheek, it was comforting, and it soothed her, until he was halfway in and then suddenly crashed his hips onto hers fully, forcing her tunnel to stretch painfully and slamming the head of his cock on her cervix.

He noticed her eyes widening and her mouth beginning to open for a scream, but before she could make a sound, he quickly pushed his lips over hers and slid his tongue in her mouth, her scream still arrived, albeit heavily muffled. As painful as his abrupt forceful intrusion was, Alyssa also felt a sudden wave of pleasure hit her when the tip of his cock pressed against a spot deep inside her pussy, but the persistent discomfort of her passage being expanded far beyond what it was used to in mere moments continued to occupy most of her mind.

What did draw some of her attention, however, was hearing and feeling his chuckle on her lips and in her mouth, his amusement drawn both by her reaction to his thrust, as well as by the fact that she had been kissing him back and weakly wrestling her tongue against his almost immediately.

He gave her no longer than a few seconds to relax until he began thrusting slowly but deeply, only moving a couple inches, and as expected, a pained whine came from her the moment he removed himself from her mouth.

"Jesus.. fuck.." Alyssa whispered through gritted teeth and moistening eyes, clutching onto his shoulders and digging her nails into them, the force of his thrusts pushing her away if it hadn't been for his firm grip on her hip.

Her jaw dropped open as she took in hot shallow breaths, she reached with an unsteady hand to wipe the moisture from her eyes, but it wasn't long until she began realizing how completely stuffed her pussy was, and how oddly satisfying that felt. Despite the still present but slowly lessening pain, every time the tip of his cock pressed against a sweet spot at the end of her tunnel, it sent a short but delightful wave of pleasure to her brain.

Almost by themselves, her hands slid past his shoulders, down his biceps and she weakly grabbed his forearm for support, entirely unaware of the faint smirk that began creeping up her face.

He wasn't surprised, however, when he realized she was slightly bleeding, and decided to not keep it a secret

"You're bleeding." He simply stated, but she didn't seem too surprised either

"Oh.." was all she said before she snaked one hand between them, touched herself and his cock as it went in and out of her, only to notice trace amounts of blood when she examined her hand. It gave her no desire to tell him to stop, well aware that if it were to get worse he would know and fix any damage.

"No matter.. I thought.." she said as she started to rock her hips in rhythm to his increasingly longer thrusts "Those bitches said.." she attempted to speak again and attracted his attention "They said-" a pleasured mewl interrupted her after the slight change of pace "They said.. it's supposed to hurt.. deep inside."

She both heard and felt the seemingly thoughtful low rumble from him through her hand on his chest, and she didn't shy away from admitting it to herself that it aroused her almost as much as his words following it did

"What you are saying is that you love my cock deep inside you, don't you?" he asked smugly with a smirk that made her avert her gaze, his question bringing back some of her embarrassment due to its blunt phrasing, the positive answer she had for it, and the twitch it evoked in her pussy.

A short hiss left her when his pace abruptly increased again in response, she bit her lip in pain, though she couldn't deny it, the balance between pain and pleasure continued to lean towards the latter.

Her realization was rudely interrupted by his hand suddenly roughly squeezing her breast and drawing a whined moan out of her "I asked you a question, human!" he said in a louder voice and demanding tone which, in any other situation, would've frightened her considerably more than it did at the moment.

Biting her bottom lip tightly again in an effort to keep herself quiet, she quickly shook her head playfully, refusing to answer his question, even though her honest answer would please him. She couldn't really tell how much time had passed, as she took the liberty of focusing more on the increasingly delightful feeling of his longer thrusts through her soaked canal, until without warning, he pulled out of her entirely.

The sudden feeling of emptiness was unpleasant enough to elicit a discontent whine out of her, which was silenced and followed by a gasp as she watched him swiftly lift her legs up over his shoulders, only to lean back down and plunge his cock right back into her as deep as it could go.

This time, he didn't try to muffle her short but loud scream, her fists attempted to hit his shoulders, partially both playfully and out of frustration at the surprise, but only managed to weakly bump them against her own knees over his shoulders, due to the way her legs were folded up as much as they could be.

Again, he gave her little time before he resumed thrusting into her, teasingly slowly. The feeling was still delightful to Alyssa, but even distracted by it, it didn't take her long to acknowledge how exposed and vulnerable the new position made her feel, especially when she looked up and noticed how close to her face he was, although a part of her admitted to how much she enjoyed the feeling of being dominated like that. She wondered if it was even possible for her cheeks to warm up more or if it was just her imagination, then felt an urge to kiss him, she placed her hands behind his neck and tried to pull him in closer, but only managed to pull herself slightly off the bed and kiss his neck.

He felt her playful moan of pleasure and protest on his nanites, yet he refused to comply with her unspoken request, and instead increased his pace driving into her as he threw a glance below, enjoying both the sight of her breasts bouncing with each thrust, of his cock sinking into her, as well as the feeling of her nipples rubbing against his chest.

"No.." he started in a surprisingly breathy voice, slightly taking her off guard "You're not going to stay silent." All of a sudden, he took a brief pause inside her, pushing her hips up, only to land a loud smack on her ass and draw a squeal out of her "I asked you a question!"

Too aroused to even playfully continue to protest, she quickly spoke up between shallow hot breaths "Yes!"

To her chagrin, her compliance was only rewarded with another loud spank, and her surprised yelp was interrupted by his demanding voice again

"'Yes' _what_?"

Alyssa moved both hands to cover her mouth as she moaned both in resistance and delight, she wasn't allowed more than a few seconds of defiance until another slap landed on her already reddening buttock, the mix of stinging and pleasurable sensations convincing her to acquiesce.

With clear hesitation, she moved her hands away from her mouth, only to cover her eyes with them in an attempt to lessen the embarrassment she'd feel from looking at him as she answered. She thought it was a logical decision, yet at the same time, she wasn't convinced there was much shame left in her, and the smirk on her lips as she spoke seemed to support that theory

"Yes I fuckin' love your fat monster cock jammed deep in my little human pussy dammit!" she said quickly with almost no pause between words, by that point she came to accept that whatever shame she had left was minuscule, proven by the fact that she had been able to say those words with a widening smirk on her face and a following giggle.

Her hands remained over her eyes, however, so she hadn't been able to see his own satisfied expression, but she did hear his deep chuckle of approval, followed by her mewl as he resumed thrusting into her at a steady but rather fast pace, any lingering feeling of pain muffled and overpowered by pleasure.

It wasn't long until the feeling of her approaching climax allowed her to feel bold and adventurous enough to begin greedily running one hand down his chest and abdomen while she held onto his back with the other and buried her face in his neck, not even considering suppressing the string of lewd moans that left her.

"Yes-yes-yes-fuckin'-" she whispered breathily mostly to herself, rhythmically with each thrust, feeling the incoming orgasm and digging her nails into his back.

Unfortunately for her, the Walrider was also well aware of her approaching climax, clearly feeling the way her internal muscles began to tighten and squeeze his cock.

As aroused as he was, and as much as he wanted to discover just how much of the dopamine in her brain he would be able to feel, he still couldn't resist the desire to prolong this, and a glance towards the giant mirror on the wall gave him an idea.

His prediction of her reaction already began to amuse him, and once he suddenly stopped thrusting into her, he was proven right.

Alyssa gasped and somewhat froze in confusion at the abrupt lack of friction, she looked up at him with a puzzled frown and slightly struggled to find her words "What are you.. wh.. come on!"

She didn't even react to his smirk as he watched her attempts to regain that much-needed friction by rocking her hips and pushing herself away and onto his cock still inside her. In frustration and confusion, she weakly hit her fist against his chest then ran her nails downwards; she looked up at him with a pleading, needy look and dissatisfied moan, then her pitiful struggle to chase her lost orgasm was rudely and completely halted when he pulled himself out of her entirely.

A long whine of protest left her at the unpleasant emptiness between her legs, which was silenced once he grabbed her under the knees only to hold her legs up and open. His gaze on her slightly sweaty body, traveling downwards, along with the exposed position, suddenly brought back some of her shame, she reached down and placed her hands over her bare pussy, accidentally brushing her wrist over her sensitive clit, which prompted her to insert a finger inside herself; the feeling wasn't nearly as satisfying as his cock, but it was better than nothing.

The relief upon being able to continue on the path to release was quickly cut short when he suddenly grabbed both her wrists with one hand, and gripped her hair with the other, evoking a short yelp from her as he yanked her up on her knees with him

"Touch yourself without my permission and I will spank you until you can't sit." His stern words were unsurprisingly followed by her playful whine of protest and frustration.

Keeping her wrists up above her head, he pulled her up close for her breasts to press against his chest, but more importantly for her, for his cock to rest between her legs. Taking advantage of the position, she brought her thighs close together and rocked her hips back and forth, rubbing the shaft of his cock against her entrance and sensitive clit, even his contemplative gravelly rumble didn't distract her enough to stop

"Well, well.. will you look at the little slut I brought to the surface.." he said teasingly as his hand slid from her back down to her ass and fondled her buttock, drawing a small mewl out of her when he briefly squeezed the flesh tightly and left small indentures of his claws.

Between heavy breaths, a short giggle left Alyssa, she was well aware that she should feel embarrassed, but at that point she was so drunk with arousal she couldn't bring herself to either feel any shame or care about her lack of embarrassment.

"Look at you.." he pulled her over so she kneeled facing the mirror on the wall while he positioned himself behind her and firmly gripped her upper arms, holding them slightly back.

Once she saw their reflection in the mirror, herself stark nude, sweaty, soaked between the legs and needy to be filled again, some self-awareness suddenly came back to her, yet whatever sense of shame that attempted to return was rather quickly overpowered by her desire for release and the fact that the tool she needed for that release was right behind her.

Taking a few clumsy kneeling steps back, she inhaled sharply in delight once she felt the head of his cock bump against her entrance, she continued to push back, until his grip on her arms halted her progress. Before she could protest, his own hips began pushing forward, setting a pleased smile of anticipation on her lips, while she averted her gaze from the mirror.

Much to her chagrin, his cock, coated and slick with her juices, accidentally slipped past her entrance and through the gap between her thighs. As expected, she was none too happy, she closed her legs tightly together and rocked her hips back and forth to rub herself against his shaft, but didn't contain her complaints

"Fuck! Please, please.." she whined under her breath, and to his pleasant surprise, she complied to the demand he was about to make "Please fill my pussy again, god!"

The phrasing of her gratifying request, however, brought back a memory from the asylum "You are a little too late for Father Martin's cult, human." He commented with some amusement.

It took Alyssa's hazy mind a few seconds to comprehend his reference and realize what she said to prompt it, and a sloppy grin set on her face once she understood.

The lack of friction after he distanced his hips from hers displeased her once more, but a sharp inhale of satisfaction left her before she could say anything as she felt the tip of his cock push against her entrance again. To her relief, this time it hadn't missed its mark, gradually filling her up to the brim, evoking a slight sense of stinging as his shaft stretched her slick walls again, albeit easily surpassed by the delightful feeling of being stuffed, as well as a gratified sigh and moan out of her.

Without warning, he squeezed her breasts with both hands, leaned back and pushed her upwards, off her knees, to the point that she had to make an effort to support some of her weight on her feet and by holding onto his wrists. She was confused why the sudden uncomfortable position for her, until he used one hand to move the hair from one side over the other shoulder, lean closer to her ear and firmly grab her jaw while his other hand played with her breast. Only once he turned her head towards the mirror did she notice how the position made the sight of the penetration very clear in the reflection

"What a delectable surprise…" he spoke low in her ear, arousing and confusing her at the same time

"Wha.." she managed to whisper until he interrupted

"All that shame, Alyssa.. That frantic heart after a mere kiss just the night before.. what _happened_?" he asked teasingly

Alyssa didn't suppress a slightly embarrassed, but mostly amused giggle, both at the situation and at the sudden ticklish feeling of his tongue on her neck "Don't know.. your fault.." she replied with an intoxicated smirk

"Is that so.." he lowered his hand from her jaw and placed it around her neck, gripping it firmly but not tight enough to take her breath away, then suddenly pulled his hips back and thrust into her once, drawing a pleasured mewl out of her "Look at yourself." He said in a somewhat more serious tone "Do you like what you see? Do you enjoy the sight of yourself impaled on my cock?"

His blunt question aroused a twitch inside her, which he felt on his shaft, already giving him the answer he sought, but she didn't shy away from verbalizing it with a lewd smile "Fuck yes.."

After a rumble of approval and pinch on her nipple, she squealed in surprise when he suddenly pushed her forward on all fours, and tightly gripped her hips, digging his nails into her skin. She was about to playfully whine about the uncomfortable pressure, but her following moans were of pleasure instead of complaints, when without warning, he began pounding into her fast and hard.

Her fingers grasped onto the silky white sheet under her, not making any effort to lessen her vocal approval and moaning as each thrust sent a much-needed rush of ecstasy from her battered pussy up to her brain. A worrisome thought struck her, she wondered if she was being too loud, if anyone else could hear her, but the concern was quickly washed away by the delightful feeling of his cock drilling into her with inhuman stamina.

Even though she felt her muscles growing weaker and sore, she flipped her hair to the side so she could see the reflection in the mirror. A lascivious smirk widened on her lips while the satisfied mewls and moans continued to flow out of her, occasionally mixed in with cusses as she took in the vulgar but so gratifying sight of the killing machine from the asylum ramming his inhuman cock into her previously unused pussy, far too distracted and lost in ecstasy to remember any guilt she should be feeling.

Her eyes lingered on his chest, traveling down and enjoying the display of the way his abs seemed to contract with each thrust, however, it wasn't long until the weakness in her muscles pushed her to lower her upper body down on the mattress.

With her ass up and head down, she could easily look back over her shoulder, watching the way his nails dug into the flesh of her hips, but her gaze soon began traveling up his sculpted arms, following the muscles up his forearms, past his biceps and shoulders, leading her back to his frightening face, which, at any other time, would've at best intimidated her, and at worst terrified her. At the present time, it was still somewhat fearsome, yet that fear was mixed with arousal in a way she didn't fully understand, all she knew was that she loved the way it frightened and aroused her at the same time.

When his piercing grey eyes suddenly aimed back into hers, she sensed that underlying fear slightly increase, but not as much as her lust, and she felt brave enough to simply widen her smirk at him in response.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with an air of pride and satisfaction, his voice as sinister as ever, yet Alyssa could've sworn he sounded as if he was breathing heavier, despite the fact that he hadn't shown the slightest sign of fatigue.

After making a half-hearted attempt to speak, she settled for a nod as she tried to lift her upper body up on her arms, only to fail miserably. Despite his tight hold on her hips, she still made an effort to push them back into his with each thrust, it didn't make much of a difference, but she still loved the feeling of the soft warm flesh of her butt bouncing against his smooth, firm hips.

An intoxicated chuckle left her before she spoke with a wide smirk "Oh fuck, I'm going to hell.." her comment answered by herself after a short pause "And it's so worth it.." she giggled again, her arousal drowning the trace of guilt she could barely notice but which prompted her joke, even more so when she heard a low pleased rumble from him and she received a spank on her ass.

It wasn't long until she felt her orgasm quickly approaching again, and heard herself whispering and mumbling with swelling ecstasy "Yes-yes-fuck-don't stop, fuck me you fucking sexy mons-" She caught herself before she finished the word and bit her lip as she realized what she almost said. With some apprehension, she dared to throw a glance back over her shoulder at him, but to her surprise, instead of offense or anger, she saw a thrilled and satisfied sinister grin on his already frightening face.

The surprise on her own face wasn't allowed to last, as almost immediately, he began a brutal punishing pace that drew a long loud moan from her, the tightening feeling in her pussy a clear sign that she was at the end of the road.

"Come on, come for me, my little human fuck doll, show me!"

His deep gravelly voice coupled with his words and the demanding manner in which he spoke them was the last drop, a sudden desire to hold onto him tightly struck her as the intense orgasm began to hit her, but since that wasn't possible in that position, her fingers grasped onto the white sheet below her instead. Feeling a wave of warmth spreading through her body, her internal muscles constricted around his cock in a vice grip, slightly slowing its drive into her. She wasn't lucid enough, nor cared enough to find a reason to mind her volume, so she made no effort to muffle her long cry of ecstasy, prolonged by the fact that he hadn't stopped his thrusts into her. The surge of pleasure quickly flowed through her entire body, making her muscles contract intensely to the point of cramping in her legs, and flooded her brain with an overwhelming wave of dopamine. To her disbelief, the heavenly feeling only progressed as he still refused to stop fucking her, unbeknownst to her, with the purpose of both milking her brain of as much dopamine as possible, and to continue making her squirm. Even through the heavy brain fog of her orgasms, her ongoing moans, mewls and cusses, she soon managed to hear his quick raspy breaths behind her, followed by a longer, low, gravelly growl, and bizarrely, the first thing that came to her mind was the sound of a demon in heat getting his long-awaited and much-desired satisfaction. A brief smirk set on her face at the idea, it was both an amusing and frightening thought, that much she had been able to realize when the intensity of her climax finally began to lessen.

To the Walrider, the immense flood of dopamine in her brain upon orgasm was astonishingly more intense and gratifying than he had anticipated. An almost ancient memory of a distant life surfaced in his mind and allowed him to compare the sensation, the euphoric feeling of the dopamine rush in her brain was strikingly similar to a heavy drug dose for a human. In a successful effort to extend the ecstatic feeling, and enjoy the sight of her squirming under him for longer, he continued pounding into her, albeit slower, not bothering to keep himself quiet, despite the fact that he knew the sounds he made might frighten her, until a shocking realization drove him to considerably decrease his pace: he could see the bones in his arms. A significant amount of the nanites on his body had slid off, some landing on the bed around them, some landing on Alyssa's back, the lack of nanites making the crisper details on his body vanish and get replaced with empty spots through which his bones were visible. The sight of his skeleton was nothing out of the ordinary to him, but his bones had always shown themselves only when he willed it, it was the first time he had lost control of his nanites without the interference of an EMP. It was a peculiar event, although not worthy of concern, since he was easily able to regain control over the fallen nanobots and move them back in place.

Under him, he heard Alyssa attempting to catch her breath as he fully stopped moving inside her and their ecstasy gradually diminished almost entirely, she made a very weak attempt to lift herself up, only to quickly fail and give up. Noticing her struggle, he took a few moments to admire and savor the state he had put her in, her exhaustion, her heavy hot breaths as she looked up at him fondly over her shoulder with overblown pupils, her long messy hair with strands sticking to the sweat on her skin.

After he had his fill of the sight, he gently turned her on her back and began to slowly pull himself out of her, but his movement was halted as, with a gratified smile, she made an effort to lift her legs and wrap them around his hips, as well as wrap her arms over his neck and pull him close to her. Much to her delight, he didn't resist, and she pulled him in for a sloppy kiss with a small moan.

"How did it feel?.." she asked with a lingering smile and bit her lip playfully

"Like a drug."

"Are you high?" her smile widened at his response, not too surprised by his comparison, since despite never having done drugs, she knew the feeling of them could be blissful

"No.." he said as he slowly pulled out of her. Alyssa let out a small moan at the feeling, she sensed her cheeks warm up again when she saw his slick cock come out of her, a bit of her shame had returned, but she still slid her fingers down his chest and abdomen as he rose up in a straddling position over her "You on the other hand.. I have not seen you in such high spirits before."

She couldn't keep her smile from turning into a somewhat embarrassed grin, which then turned into a small yawn as she began noticing how sleepy she was, on top of physically tired. Even so, she found her gaze sneaking down towards his cock again and a thought passed through her mind, she wondered when he was going to make it disappear, since it was no longer needed, until her unspoken question was suddenly answered, briefly making her doubt her hearing was working properly.

"Again." The Walrider simply said as his hand brushed over her breast, leaving Alyssa momentarily speechless, with nothing but a faint frown of disbelief on her face.

Once he grabbed her waist with both hands and began pulling her up, however, she quickly snapped out of it "What?! No, stop, i-it's late, I gotta sleep, I'm tired!"

Her objections were entirely ignored, he placed one arm under her back and the other under her knees, then picked her up off the bed, while she continued to complain, until the glass door on the other side of the room seemed to slide open by itself for them, and the chilly night air hit her after he walked with her onto the terrace.

"You can't be serious-" another object moving seemingly by itself startled her, she watched as a tall bar chair from the bar next to the wall slid across the floor and stopped right in front of the safety glass wall that extended from the railing.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the next thing she knew was being sat on the chair sideways, whose surface was slightly cold, especially to her warm sweaty skin, although it was nothing compared to the cold sensation on her arm and breast being pressed against the glass wall as he pushed her into it and tilted her hips up towards him.

She opened her mouth to protest, but instead of a complaint, a mixed cry of surprise, pleasure, and a trace amount of pain left her when without warning, he drove his still slick cock into her still wet but battered pussy as deep as it would go, with a gratified rumble.

This time around, he didn't bother starting slowly, and went directly for a hard, moderately fast pace as he began thrusting into her, pushing the chair back and forth with each thrust, and making Alyssa feel even less stable in her position. To some relief, he placed an arm behind her back and the other around her legs, which helped somewhat, but she still felt unstable, with the long thin legs of the chair below her rocking back and forth, while she could only hold onto his arm, and her hand slipped on the glass wall as she was pushed against it with no support.

She still felt sensitive and slightly sore from the previous round, but soon, the moans and mewls began to creep up increasingly louder between her fast breaths, to the point that she was glad the music from the floor below was still loud, she could hear it much clearer now outside on the terrace.

From her helpless position, she wasn't able to do much apart from holding onto his arm tightly as his pace gradually increased, her inability to touch him more somewhat frustrated her, since it wasn't long until her arousal returned in full the longer he pounded into her.

Turning to glance through the glass wall, she wiped her hand over the foggy spot she made with her breath, then had a long look below. Unsurprisingly, the city was as lively as ever, both the taller and smaller buildings illuminated from the inside, while the streets were busy with traffic and people alike. The sight brought some self-awareness back to her, she briefly considered how seemingly crazy what was happening at the moment was, but the thought that Murkoff's top secret project and escaped prisoner was currently fucking her brains out at the top of a hotel in Denver city only managed to amuse her and further arouse her.

"Changed your mind and having fun again, are we?" The Walrider asked teasingly upon noticing the smirk on her face, which turned into a chuckle and clumsy nod

"You.. ah-oh-fuck-" she attempted to contain herself and speak "Know.. There's.. That guy. From the asylu-fuck-"

Her words sparked his interest, however, so he slowed his pace so she could talk with more ease and gave her a questioning look

"It just crossed my mind.. He was.. really close.. I-I mean, well.. he almost raped me." She managed to finish, then immediately felt his pace slow considerably as she noticed a frightening expression of disapproval on his face before he spoke with clear irritation

"Who?"

"Hell if I remember his name right now, one of the patients.." she paused until she recalled a particular moment "O-oh! Remember when I wrecked the security room near the lobby? Just when I walked out, that guy was right there, down the hallway, but you appeared behind me and scared the shit out of him, and, well, out of me too, but anyway, he ran like hell when he saw you. _That_ asshole nearly raped me. It's kind of 'funny', cause he could've done it earlier if it hadn't been for Walker intervening and trying to kill both me and him." She finished with a short chuckle, at the time, it had been a terrifying experience, but looking back on it, the irony of Walker saving her didn't escape her, plus, she was safe now, and her dark sense of humor got the better of her.

Her explanation seemed to somewhat calm him, as he dismissed the topic, not without a facetious remark "Find him later."

His comment drew a giggle out of Alyssa "Oh hell no!" she protested, even though she knew he wasn't being serious.

Her amusement was cut short and replaced with a small squeal and a series of moans, however, when he suddenly resumed thrusting rapidly into her.

Before she knew it, she began feeling the warmth of her incoming climax, her breath shallowed and quickened further as her hand gripped tighter on his arm while her pussy gripped tighter on his cock ramming in and out of her

"Oh-fuck-fuck-yes I'm gonna- I'm-" her words and blissful sensation were abruptly interrupted when the chair underneath her slipped and fell to the ground, she yelped in surprise, bracing for a fall that never came, as the Walrider quickly tightened his grip on her and held her up.

Just as she was about to express her frustration at being interrupted, he quickly floated to the nearby lounge chair, sat down and leaned back without exiting her, then grabbed her hips and pushed her down onto his lap and cock as her back was to him. To her relief, he resumed thrusting upwards into her, bouncing her breasts, hair, and tired body with each thrust, quickly bringing back the feeling of her approaching orgasm as she held onto his veiny forearms for support. At that point, a trace of concern passed through her mind, wondering if her loud squeals and moans could be heard by the people a floor below even over the music that was playing, but she still couldn't bring herself to care enough to lower her own volume.

Her relief hadn't lasted, however, as her pleasure was soon interrupted again, this time by his own hips slowing then entirely stopping their drive into her. Just as she let out a whine of discontent, he released her hips and grabbed her arm instead, twisting her halfway around so he could see her, and her expression.

The sight of the needy look on her face while she watched him with wide pupils, red cheeks and half open mouth as she sat impaled on his cock was more than gratifying, he reached to squeeze a breast before speaking with delight and some amusement

"Go on, Alyssa. Please yourself, I want to watch you fuck yourself on my cock."

Even though she was beyond aroused, his blunt demand struck a chord in her, warming up her cheeks further, if it was even possible.

She didn't immediately move, until a sudden spank on her ass prompted her to lift herself up on weary and unstable legs, yet as tired as her body felt, the friction between her legs as she slid up his cock was more encouragement than she needed to make it to the top, then drop herself down with a moan.

He continued to hold her arm back so she halfway faced him as she pushed herself up and down to penetrate herself, despite the obvious effort she was making to keep going, the fatigue was noticeable on her face, but it was also accompanied by a pleased smirk.

With trembling legs, she kept lifting herself up and riding his slick cock, each thrust into her core sending a wave of pleasure to her brain while she relished in the feeling of being full to the brim, yet exhausted as she was, she couldn't move quickly enough to approach her lost orgasm, so she pushed herself to increase her speed.

Her effort did prove fruitful, as she felt herself growing closer, and during the whole time, even when she didn't throw a glance at him, she could feel his satisfied gaze on her, watching her bounce herself on his lap with enthusiasm. His stare only turned her on further, but it wasn't alone, it was accompanied by whatever little shame was left in her, yet at the same time, that shame was easily surpassed by her arousal.

Much to her displeasure, she very soon found herself slowing down and distancing herself from her climax, her legs too tired to keep up her moderately rapid pace. Noticing her diminishing movement, the Walrider decided to assist her, he grasped her hips firmly and began thrusting upwards into her again, his increasingly fast pace drawing increasingly louder moans out of her.

It wasn't long until she began sensing the familiar feeling of her quickly incoming orgasm again, her breath growing shallower and faster and her mewls more frequent with each thrust into her core, but just as she felt her pussy tightening on his cock and the warmth about to spread through her body, a particular urge struck her again, and she felt compelled to follow it.

"Wait! Wait, wait!" she struggled to speak louder between tired breaths, and luckily, he did comply, slowing almost to a halt, despite the fact that her request puzzled him.

As quickly as she could, she clumsily turned herself around to face him without his cock exiting her, placed her knees up on the wide lounge chair and leaned forward, pressing her breasts on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder, then grinded her hips against his in an unspoken request to continue.

The sudden intimate position was unexpected to him, yet for whatever reason he somewhat liked it. Without lingering on it, he placed his hands on her back and resumed spearing into her fast and hard, his thrusts quickly continuing her delighted mewls and moans.

Sooner than she anticipated, she felt her orgasm fast approaching, her fingernails dug into the nanites on his shoulders, she buried her face in the crook of his neck, and before she knew it, the burst of ecstasy rapidly spread through her body, while, much to the Walrider's delight, dopamine flooded her brain again, providing that blissful sensation that he craved and drawing a gratified rumble out of him. Still, as before, he continued thrusting into her, multiplying her orgasm and squeezing her of dopamine, as well as prolonging her cry of ecstasy, partially muffled by her mouth against his neck.

Gradually, his movement slowed to a halt, the tightness in her muscles caused by her climax relaxed, but she still didn't move, only continued to weakly hold onto him as she breathed deeply through her half open mouth, her eyes halfway closed as well, both in the lingering blissful feeling and sleepiness.

The Walrider made no effort to move either, quite enjoying the feeling of her resting on him, spent and satisfied, but when more of the high of the orgasm dissipated, she began growing aware of the chilly night air on her sweaty skin, and made a half-hearted attempt to get up.

Unsurprisingly, she failed, and after he recollected the nanites that slid off of him during the rush of the dopamine, he slowly lifted her hips up, sliding his slick cock out of her, then dispersing the nanites that composed it, as it was no longer needed.

After a small sound of surprise from her at the cold feeling on her wet entrance, he picked her up and floated back into the bedroom, sliding the glass door closed and muffling the music coming from outside.

He laid her down on the bed, yet despite her weak grip over his neck, she refused to let go, and instead, made an effort to pull him down with her, even with barely open eyes, a playful sound of content and a smile on her lips. She had doubts he would comply, but to her pleasant surprise, he gave in to her unspoken request and swiftly hopped on the bed next to her.

Struggling to stay awake but very pleased with his decision, she clumsily grabbed the white silk sheet, and he watched her with some curiosity as she pulled it over both of them, then snuggled herself to his chest. A long sigh of contentment left her, and despite her effort to remain awake, sleep took her in mere moments.

* * *

As the Walrider laid next to Alyssa, watching her sleep and recalling the blissful feeling of the dopamine flooding her brain, giving him a drug-like sensation, he couldn't help wishing they had done that earlier. However, he quickly realized it was likely that she wouldn't have been willing if he attempted it sooner, and forcing himself on her wouldn't have been nearly as fun and satisfying, that much he was convinced of when he recalled her reactions.

Another thought soon followed, he almost wished he found a fitting female host much earlier, yet again, the same problem of unwillingness would've most probably intervened, and while a forced orgasm would've been decent, it likely wouldn't have been nearly as good. On top of that, the chances of the woman acting and reacting in the ways he enjoyed, the same way Alyssa did, would've also been quite low at best.

As time passed, he found his mind wandering more than usually, until it reached the distant memory of his origin into this world, and an odd idea slowly surfaced. It made him somewhat uneasy, but he considered that, perhaps, it was possible that his aversion to the alleged unconsciousness that arrived during the short moments when he was without a host might be irrational. The thought slightly unnerved him, yet he realized that it always did, to the point that during the few times that he did think about it like now, he would always quickly dismiss it, so he refused to dismiss it again. It made no sense, losing consciousness without a physical body, he considered that his aversion to the apparent loss of awareness could be due to the fact that he hadn't gone unconscious in over fifty thousand years, since he had no physical body during that time, so the feeling grew alien to him.

The more he thought about it, the less threatening the supposed lack of consciousness seemed, he couldn't shake the feeling that it could've been a normal and temporary effect before moving further away from this world then regaining full awareness in a more distant dimension, and he only had himself to blame for refusing to take physical form for such a long time and putting himself in this situation where he forgot what fully traveling between realms felt like. The alleged abyss he feared made less sense the more he thought about it, even if he were to somehow get lost in endless nothingness, it was always possible to find your way back to familiar territory, it wasn't always easy, but he knew from his distant travels that it was always possible, while the lack of consciousness seemed senseless as well, despite being between lives, he was still a soul like anyone else, and there was no force in the universe that could extinguish the consciousness of a soul.

The realizations gave him some peace of mind, even when he thought of Wernicke and the possibility of not finding the man in time, or finding him only for him to have no answers. When he glanced down at Alyssa still sleeping, however, he felt no rush to put the theories to the test or chase after the old man, his mind returned to the plans for Murkoff, and as he watched her sleep cuddled next to him, a thought struck him, that perhaps, after all this time, this world was going to get a little better.


	34. Chapter 34

The sensation of a soft and silky tongue traveling down her neck brought Alyssa to the brink of wakefulness, the pleasant feeling drawing a sleepy smile out of her and prompting her hands to begin moving across the broad muscular back of the entity above her, until her legs being pulled open rather quickly woke her up fully with a small gasp.

She relished in the delightful sensation of the smooth firm surface of his body against her nude skin for a while longer, but once he attempted to slide a finger in her damp entrance, a short hiss of discomfort left her as the realization of how sore she was struck her, and to her relief, he removed his hand from between her legs.

"Crap, that hurts.." she said gently, without sounding accusatory, but his answer slightly unsettled her

"I tore you on the inside." When he noticed her unnerved expression, he decided to clarify "Micro-fissures. Fully healed by tomorrow. I was.. too rough."

Alyssa felt her cheeks warm up at his words and as she remembered the events of the previous night, even more so when his hand slowly slid up her abdomen before he rolled over on his back on the bed next to her. She felt an impulse to cuddle up to him again, but resisted it as she spoke with shy playfulness and a small coy smirk

"Hey, if that's the price to pay, it's more than worth it."

She received a deep rumble of approval in response, which widened her smirk, but she felt too shy to glance back at him when he looked at her. Deciding to get ready for the day, she carefully climbed out of bed, her eyes slightly bothered by the sunlight of the late morning; she was only a little reluctant to walk around in the nude in front of him, but quickly realized her hesitation was silly after what happened the previous night and relaxed, despite the fact that she felt his gaze follow her as she walked, before she disappeared into the bathroom.

As the day went on, Alyssa found herself thinking about Paul's return with increasing nervousness, even more so when night came again, and yet another day passed with no sign of the man. On the afternoon of the following day, she slowly paced around the living room while the TV played in the background, mostly bored but with some underlying anxiety. By that time, Billy's heart and lungs had been healed to the point of being able to function by themselves with stability, Alyssa's own minor internal damage was no more, and Pauline's wound no longer restricted her range of motion, allowing the woman to leave the building without concerns of her own body blowing her cover.

"Funny, I thought I'd feel better without two Murkoff agents in the next room, but I don't like this.. I hope they don't get any ideas." Alyssa said stepping towards the balcony where the Walrider stood, leaning against the tall railing as he watched the city below.

"We will remain vigilant." He replied simply without turning to look at her, but she didn't remove her gaze from him as she gave a nod with a small smile.

Seconds later, she realized her expression and the way she was looking at him, her gaze slid to the floor as she resumed her casual slow pacing around the room. It was far from the first time it happened, ever since the night they spent together, she often found her gaze lingering on him in a particular manner, while she couldn't help feeling emotionally closer to him. The feeling did give her a strange sense of comfort, but unsurprisingly to her, it was accompanied by guilt, even more so when she considered what the near future held.

"What troubles you now, human?.." The Walrider's voice slightly startled her, but she noticed he wasn't looking at her, so she was puzzled as to what gave her worried state of mind away, until she considered that he might had been able to sense it.

Alyssa stepped back towards the balcony, and stopped some distance away, still uncomfortable with the great height below

"Just.. the usual stuff." She had been truthful, yet she decided against sharing the rest of her feelings which involved him "I.. miss my family" she suddenly continued, not entirely certain why "I know it's only been several days since the asylum incident, but it feels so much longer.." a small sigh left her while she took a couple small steps towards him "If my mother knew what I'm going to be involved in.. it would break her heart into pieces." she felt her eyes slightly begin to water as some distant childhood memories came back, but wiped the moisture away, then noticed the Walrider turn his head away and down upon hearing her words "I can only pray to whatever God might listen that I'll get to see them again.."

Only silence followed her statements, and another discreet but pained sigh left her when she assumed she was talking to the wind. She was only slightly surprised, she began taking a few steps back, until the Walrider's oddly hesitant voice made her pause

"You.. noticed something, inside Tiffany's home, did you not?"

"Tiffany?" Alyssa raised a confused eyebrow

"Billy's mother."

"Oh. I.. not sure, what do you mean? Sorry, I have a lot of things on my mind.."

"There were five small figurines on a dresser."

"O-oh, right, I remember." Alyssa said with some interest as the peculiar memory came back to her "They looked a bit.. out of place. I mean, not to be rude, but they looked really pretty, and the woman didn't seem to be in a.. great financial situation. Why are you mentioning that, what's the deal?" she asked with a vague unpleasant feeling

"The deal… Precisely." The Walrider said pensively, puzzling Alyssa further, but he continued before she could question "Those were Swarovski crystals, a few thousand dollars."

"Huh, seriously? Like I said, didn't seem to match with the rest of her home, what was that, the worst case of messed up priorities ever?" she asked with some amusement in an attempt to ease up the somber atmosphere and lift her own mood.

Her humor died down, however, when a few silent seconds passed, and the Walrider seemed even more serious, she opened her mouth to speak, but he suddenly answered

"Billy was not sick, Alyssa, he was not sent to the asylum because of a mental illness."

Whatever was left of her amusement quickly vanished, his statement sparked a sense of foreboding in her, and she listened quietly as a faint unsettled frown grew on her face

"Tiffany Hope sold her son to Murkoff for those figurines and a few grand of cash. Healthy subjects were preferable to the corporation.. for Project Walrider."

The disturbed expression on Alyssa's face only deepened as his words slowly sank in, she opened her mouth to speak again, yet couldn't find her voice. The heart-warming memory of Billy reuniting with the woman, the tears of joy from both the mother and the son, came back to her and kept replaying in disbelief, it had been one of the rare pleasant moments in the recent past, and her mind almost refused to accept that it had been a lie on the woman's part.

"But… why..." she finally managed to ask, her voice barely audible.

"I suppose she needed decorations and money more than she needed her son." The Walrider said after a short pause with a hint of pity.

As much as Alyssa didn't want to believe it, Tiffany being in possession of such expensive objects made sense this way, and she knew he wouldn't lie to her, especially about something like that. Not caring enough about her fear of heights anymore, she slowly stepped towards him and shook her head

"But.. that's not even a lot of money, a few grand. Jesus.. was his life that cheap to her…" she said more as a statement than a question, and more to herself, as she stopped by his side, but a foot behind, still preferring not to approach the railing and see the sight below "I assume he doesn't have a clue, otherwise he wouldn't have been happy to see her, to say the least.. How.. did you find out?"

"Gossiping employees stated it, and, during containment breaches, unsecured emails from Murkoff officials confirmed it."

His doubtless answer drew a deep pained exhale out of her, and as he stood next to her, arms resting on the railing, she felt a need to put her arm around his and lean on him for some comfort, but resisted the temptation, and cleared her throat before speaking reluctantly

"You never told him..."

She didn't even know why she made that statement, and only got a hesitant reply after a few silent somber moments

"I.. never had the heart to."

Again, she noticed some pity in his voice, and his words took her off guard even more, yet this time it was a pleasant surprise "I understand." She said with a brief small smile and wrapped her arms around herself after a sudden strong breeze passed by.

"Do you, now?" his sudden question made her pause, and when he turned around, she noticed some shades of grey on his face and down his body, detailing the surface, not as much as during that particular night, but not a solid inky color either, the sight distracting her only for a brief moment "You have said before that you would rather face a harsh truth than live a pleasant lie. How about now? Put yourself in Billy's shoes, and tell me, can you say the same? Would you prefer me to tell you how the only person you thought ever loved you has given you to Murkoff for unimaginable pain, in exchange for a few measly grand and some crystal dolls?"

Alyssa swallowed in growing discomfort as he spoke, and by the time he finished, she bit her lip and began moving back, averting her gaze from him, but with one large step, he quickly grabbed her arm firmly, preventing her from backing away

"No, you are not turning away from this one."

Not even fully knowing why, she tried to resist him, a small whimper of protest escaped her as she made a fruitless effort to undo his grip with her other hand, which was halted when she heard his demanding, louder voice

"Tell me!"

"I don't know, dammit!" she snapped back surprisingly swiftly, loosening his grip ever-so-slightly, and resuming her attempt to move away "Fine, I just don't! I don't know, I don't want to know, I don't want to think about it, I-I can't…"

After a few more seconds of failed attempts to leave, her little outburst quickly died down, and she felt herself and her efforts deflate. As they did so, his grip on her arm relaxed and released her as well, yet contrary to his expectation, she didn't immediately run off, instead, she remained in place, with a mix of emotions on her face, including surprise, upon hearing him speak in a low but oddly softer voice

"And you do not have to. Your family did not sell you, and you will see them again, if you choose to fight against those who would do them harm in order to reach you. In your case, when you will be reunited, it will not be a lie."

The realization that her situation wasn't nearly as bad as she believed it sank into her slowly, along with the painful understanding of how much worse it was for other people, namely Billy, whose own mother betrayed him for something she knew to be worse than death after witnessing the events in the asylum. She felt herself relax, physically and mentally, while most of her emotions washed off, leaving behind only a sense of empty sadness.

This time, she didn't bother pushing away the urge as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly, resting her face against his chest, both for comfort and so she couldn't see the great height below

"I'm sorry.." she whispered barely audibly after a deep sigh

"Not again.." his semi-serious tone and words alluding to the times she apologized unnecessarily drew a brief faint smile on her lips, then she decided to ask another question whose answer she feared she already knew

"His father? Any other relatives?"

"Absent from his life."

The Walrider's quick answer quenched what little hopes she had left for Billy's family, while making her further understand how much worse things could be for her.

The sudden sensation of his hand going through her hair made her slightly tense up at first, then relax as it slowly travelled down her back. A small sigh of content left her, but her enjoyment of the feeling was halted after his hand stopped on her lower back and briefly pulled her tighter against him

"He's here." He said in a very serious tone before releasing her and beginning to float towards the door rather quickly.

The understanding that it could only be Paul's long-awaited return evoked a sinking feeling of foreboding in her, but she did her best to ignore it, rushed into the bedroom, picked up her bandanna and concealed her face before meeting the undercover Murkoff agent.

When she stepped into the living room, the Walrider was sitting on one of the sofas, while Paul sat on the armchair across from it, then placed a small black briefcase on the coffee table between them. The sight of the briefcase struck some concern within Alyssa, until she heard the Walrider's voice

"I checked it. Sit."

Relieved that there was nothing dangerous inside, she sat next to him with hesitation, well aware of what the briefcase should contain instead.

"I trust you have held your end of the bargain, Mr. Marion?" the Walrider said as Paul unlocked and fully opened the briefcase with a nod.

The sight of the documents and pictures inside already made Alyssa feel nauseous, she momentarily looked away and swallowed in apprehension.

"Of course. Physical copies, old fashioned style, no digital footprints. It's what I prefer, safer this way." The man said in a rather neutral, almost casual tone, somewhat unpleasantly surprising her, as if the business being conducted was financial, not conspiracy to commit murder. The sinking feeling in her stomach got worse, however, when he began taking the documents out of the briefcase, and placed a photograph on the table in front of them.

The Walrider picked it up between two clawed fingers and observed the figures on it, while Alyssa threw a quick glance at it, only to quickly regret it after seeing a grinning, middle-aged, brunette woman, standing next to a smiling man in what appeared to be a back yard. She did her best to hide her dread and anxiety, which she thought was rather easy due to her face being concealed, while the agent's following words only made her feel worse

"Murkoff attorney currently working on the asylum incident trial, Veronica Mannon, 38 years old, 2582 Harter Street." Paul said in the same neutral tone and placed another photograph in front of them, which, upon picking up and taking a closer look at, she noticed was a clear shot of a moderately large house in a suburbia.

The realization that they already had all the basic things they needed, a name, a face, and a location, sank into her rather suddenly. It was more than a little unnerving, she quickly handed the photograph to the Walrider, who took it, but not without grabbing her slightly trembling hand firmly as he did so, sensing her clear unrest

"Must I remind you-"

"No." she quickly shook her head and moved her hand away, yet was unable to shake the dreadful feeling away "Go on." She made an effort to keep a neutral tone as well, nodding to Paul, who cleared his throat and continued. Unbeknownst to her, the man had been able to tell rather easily how nervous she was, but refrained from making any comment and stuck to the business at hand, placing other documents with information about the woman on the table, which the Walrider picked up, but Alyssa decided to not let her curiosity get the best of her again.

"Now.. Mrs. Mannon lives here in Denver, west in the suburbia, typical upper-class neighborhood, drives a silver Mercedes-Benz, plates 545-MYQ. Divorced, lives alone but often visited by current boyfriend, Jason Winters, man in the photo."

"Security measures?" the Walrider asked as he looked through the documents, while Paul leaned back in his seat and nodded

"Plenty. Mrs. Mannon is a bit paranoid, surveillance camera on the porch, almost always locks the front and back doors, day and night, sensors on the windows, silent alarm goes off if they're broken, camera in the living room, wide angle, catches the entrance up to the kitchen across, and another upstairs, end of the hallway."

A long sigh left Alyssa as the man finished, she lowered her head in her palm and rubbed her temple, not bothering to hide her worries

"Didn't say it was gonna be easy, miss.." Paul commented, but the Walrider interjected

"It will not be an issue. Schedule?"

"Ah, yes.. Mrs. Mannon's schedule is not fixed, but she's been working considerably longer hours since Murkoff's legal trouble began, she's one of our.. _their_ best lawyers-"

"Is that why you chose her first, Mr. Marion?" Alyssa suddenly interrupted, her words followed by a short pause

"Well.. let's just say it was a strategic decision backed up by personal reasons." The man eventually answered with some noticeable hesitation, raising Alyssa's curiosity

"Have beef with her, do you?" she asked before realizing it was none of her business, but to her surprise, Paul gave her more details than she expected

"This woman kicked her teenage son to the curb because she was tired of looking after his health. Poor kid had to go to his dad, who luckily took him in, otherwise he would've been done for. She's a prime example of the type of person who willingly climbs the corporate ladder at Murkoff, charming and cunning in public, and ill-tempered, cruel and cold-hearted in private." He said after a short sigh with a slight frown as he recalled the information. Suddenly, Paul's decision and demeanor made a lot more sense to Alyssa, considering the situation he was trapped in, the things he was willing to do for his own ill daughter, and the deeds of the woman he had chosen. Feeling like no further questions were necessary, she simply nodded and averted her gaze.

"Her psychological profile would put Pauline's to shame, to put it short.. Anyway, schedule. As I was saying, she's been working late for the past few days, last two nights she arrived home between 9 and 10 pm, so I suggest you wait for midnight."

After a few silent seconds, the Walrider gently tossed the documents back onto the table, and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest

"Job well done, Mr. Marion. Keep this up, and it will be only a matter of time until your daughter will be free of ill health."

Both his words and softer tone raised Alyssa's mood ever-so-slightly, while Paul nodded with some enthusiasm and leaned closer

"Thank you. Well.. not to cross any boundaries, but what's the plan exactly? Killing Mrs. Mannon is not gonna make Murkoff lose the case, they're just going to replace her, we have plenty of lawyers and more than enough money to hire the best outsiders."

"Precisely. One, after the other, after the other. Until the message is received loud and clear." The Walrider said almost casually, crushing Alyssa's mood back down, while a humorless chuckle from Paul made her turn her gaze to him

"So, scare the living shit outta them until they either refuse to get involved or they're too scared to do their job properly and lose the case, huh? Interesting.."

"This isn't freaking happening…" Alyssa mumbled more to herself and stood up, but just as she began stepping away, the Walrider grabbed her hand and pulled her back down, speaking before she could protest

"Your job is complete, for the time being, Mr. Marion, you may leave."

After giving them both a discreet but somewhat uncomfortable look, the man nodded and closed his briefcase, then Alyssa recalled some questions she had for him.

"Wait. Mr. Marion. I.. have to ask you something." She said with apprehension, drawing Paul's attention, who gave her a questioning look to continue "I.. do you know, does Murkoff have any information on me? Have I been seen by anyone or some camera whose footage wasn't erased or anything?"

The few silent moments as the man thought back quickened her heartbeat, even more so when he did answer "Possibly, did you leave behind a black jacket? They found one in the Male Ward of the asylum, didn't belong to any employees or patients, and they found a strand of hair in it."

Paul's statement brought back that sinking feeling of dread with a vengeance, she leaned forward and rested her head in her palms, the heaviness of his words, confirming one of her worst fears, feeling as if a building crashed over her

"That god damn jacket…" she whispered more to herself

"On the bright side, they don't have a DNA match, meaning as long as you don't have your DNA registered in any database, they won't be able to identify you. So.. I suggest you don't get arrested, miss." Paul said in a rather neutral tone as he stood up, drawing a small, humorless and bitter chuckle out of Alyssa

"Good advice to give after planning a murder…" This time, her words evoked a discreet sigh from the man, but as he began walking away, followed by the Walrider, she made an effort to clear her mind and joined them "What about Pauline? How is she doing?"

"Oh, Pauline's doing fine, she pulled some stunning bullshit to cover herself, and our superiors believed her. She's a great liar, and she'd take that as a compliment. Plus she's a trusted veteran in the corporation, so she's unlikely to raise suspicion. And by the way, I'd keep those documents and photos out of sight if I were you, then burn them as soon as possible, don't leave evidence behind."

Alyssa nodded as she made a mental note on his advice "One more thing.. Does Murkoff have any information on Billy's whereabouts?"

"Billy Hope?" Paul's interest seemed to grow slightly at her question "Not from what I know, then again, it might be above my clearance. What I do know though, is that Jeremy's really pissed, they can't find the Walrider, they can't find Billy, and they can't pin your ID, the asylum intruder. Pauline's closer to him than me, she said he wants to dedicate more resources to the search, but his superiors won't let him, the trial and getting the corporation out of legal trouble takes top priority. This hotel is a good spot though, I can tell you that much, hiding in plain sight is smart, the last thing you want is to be in the middle of nowhere by yourselves."

Alyssa nodded again thoughtfully, recalling how right the man was from her own negative experience on being in scarcely populated areas while trying to hide from Murkoff "I see.." she almost whispered, then slightly flinched when she noticed the agent's pistol lift off from the decorative table next to the wall, float and land in the Walrider's hand, but pushed herself to ask another question "Not to pry either but.. I've heard some things about Billy.. More exactly his mother. Do you know how Billy ended up at Mount Massive?"

The Murkoff agent rose a curious eyebrow at her words, but didn't hesitate to speak "I don't know what exactly you heard, or especially how, and I'm not gonna ask, but Pauline told me.. the truth about Tiffany and her son is pretty disgusting, she sold Billy to Murkoff for.. let's just say, not a lot of money. Hope the poor kid finds out the truth someday."

Alyssa swallowed and took a step back, then flinched when the door suddenly swung open and the Walrider stepped in front of her, facing the man

"After the deed is done, either you or Pauline have three days to return here with information on the next target." He stated in a serious tone as Paul headed out the door, and tossed his weapon to him.

The agent placed it back in the holster under his coat, then began walking away calmly "As promised."

Alyssa turned and stepped away as well, towards the living room, only hearing the door closing and locking behind.

She stopped walking when the Walrider floated past her, however, and couldn't contain her disgruntled and condemning tone "You really have no issue with this, do you? This is nothing to you."

She crossed her arms and swallowed with some apprehension when he also stopped in his tracks and turned to her, the grey details on his face allowing her to see a serious but almost tired expression, which matched his tone of voice

"Alyssa.."

Before he could continue, she shook her head and walked past him into the living room, but felt too much unrest to sit down

"You told me you will.. deal with it. Yet here you are, again, being difficult." his tone made it fairly clear that he was tired of her attitude, which increased her nervousness, but at the same time, she couldn't help the way she felt

"I am _trying_ to deal with the fact that I must participate in a murder!"

"Be quiet!" he said quickly, making her flinch, after her voice was louder than it should've been when stating such a thing.

Alyssa sighed painfully, but remained quiet, her gaze dropping to the floor. Despite her silence, however, the Walrider began floating towards her, unnerving her further. She didn't shy away from taking a few steps back, until she was forced to stop when she bumped against the couch.

Before she had the chance to walk around it and away, he grabbed her arm, and she slightly tensed up when his other hand grabbed her jaw, making her look up at him

"Your fretting is senseless.." The fact that he sounded calmer would have eased her nerves, but at the same time, he also seemed dead serious, and she would have preferred to be able to move away if she wanted to "Because you believe you have a choice. You don't have a choice, Alyssa, this is not a decision for you to make. You refuse to go where I require you.. and I will have to force you to. Be it with my own hands, or.." a frown on her face deepened as she noticed his gaze turn towards the floor after he released her jaw "So many innocent people down there.. You would not want me to hurt them because of your noncompliance, now, would you?"

She couldn't help the mixed expression of anger and fear on her face upon hearing his words, she dared to even glare at him before trying to walk away angrily, only for him to squeeze her arm tighter, but she felt too upset to say anything

"Remember.. no choice."

She refused to look at him, and in a silent effort to leave, she tried to shake her arm out of his grip. To her relief, he released her without another word.

Immediately, she took the opportunity to put as much distance between them as she could, making her way into her bedroom and slamming the door shut.

Allowing herself to fall on the bed, she curled into a ball and made an effort to prevent his words from continuing to replay in her mind, with little success. She could hardly believe what he just said, and she couldn't understand why she felt like that, she called herself a fool for being surprised that he would make threats to the safety of others to punish her behavior, for accidentally putting herself under some illusion that he would not go to such lengths just because they spent more time and a night together.

The memory of that night, and the fact that she was laying on that same bed, only made her feel worse, she briefly squeezed her eyes when she felt some moisture coming and swallowed, considering that perhaps if she had told him before that she had feelings for him, he would not have said such a thing, then quickly dismissed the idea, knowing full well it would be both embarrassing but especially that her feelings shouldn't exist in the first place.

Unbeknownst to her, the Walrider's intentions were of taking whatever responsibility she felt and shifting it on himself, however, he wasn't hesitant about stating any threats, and had the habit of being too harsh in his speech and mannerisms. His intention of placing all the responsibility on himself was lost to Alyssa due to his blunt sincerity of the means he would go to in order to make her cooperate, while the fact that he was far from adept at sending a kind message did not help to express positive motives either.

On the other hand, he wasn't oblivious to her feelings for him, that much he had been able to observe both from her behavior around him and from sensing some of her emotions. To some extent, he understood why, considering the things they had been through together and the way she acted in bed, but what he also understood was the possibility of her feelings for him making her position even more difficult. However, they had more important things lying in wait, and before he dismissed the issue, the thought crossed his mind that if he had the opportunity to change hosts to a more compliant one, he would refuse it.

For the rest of the day, Alyssa spent as much time as she could in her bedroom, only coming out to get food, she heard Billy and the Walrider speaking in the living room once as she passed by, but ignored them and made an effort to keep her presence unknown.

As evening came, she strongly suspected that she would be unable to fall asleep, so she already dismissed any hopes for either a nap before it was time to leave, or a good night's sleep after they came back. Sitting on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest while the TV played a news channel, despite her gaze being aimed at the screen, her mind kept wandering. One moment she was thankful that the Walrider hadn't tried to talk to her, rationalizing that he allowed her to be alone if she so wished, the next moment she felt almost hurt, thinking that he simply did not care in the slightest that she was upset, and then she considered that she might have exaggerated in her reaction, until she got too tired of juggling the conflicting emotions, and did her best to dismiss them.

When her attention returned to the TV, a sense of dread began rising in her with the realization that soon, a news story about the murder of a particular Murkoff lawyer was going to be on the same screen, and her unrest increased again upon glancing at the clock in the corner and seeing it wasn't long until midnight arrived, the time Paul had suggested they move.

After some more time crawled painfully slowly, Alyssa decided on a whim to take a shower, in a last attempt to calm herself, with nothing else left to do, since she had already prepared everything almost obsessively.

Stripping nude, she hopped in the spacious shower cabin, absentmindedly half-closing the sliding door at her side, then flinched and inhaled sharply when she turned the water on and a strong cold jet hit her, but relaxed moments later when the temperature increased.

A long unsteady sigh left her as the warm water flowed down her body and stuck her wet red hair to her skin, the sight of which made her feel slightly odd, enough to convince her to make a mental note to remove the dye from her hair when she had the opportunity, scoffing at the weak attempt to conceal her identity, and the memories of Lisa and her attitude that followed.

It was frustratingly difficult to keep her mind from returning to the things she dreaded the most, she was so tired of bad news, and the more she thought about the lack of positivity in her life lately, the more she regretted getting so upset at the Walrider for what he said.

Again, the thought gave her mixed feelings, she would still find it heinous if he hurt other people in order to punish her, yet at the same time, she considered observing the situation from a broader point of view, being more cooperative to entirely avoid the risk of him going to such measures was obvious, and then Paul's words about their target came back to her.

Her uncomfortable thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the shower cabin door sliding open, she flinched and looked back just briefly to notice the Walrider step behind her, but before she could make any attempt to move, he placed his arms by her sides and on the wall in front of her, trapping her in place.

Alyssa hugged her own arms around her chest silently and kept her back towards him, watching as the shower handle moved downwards seemingly by itself, reducing the water pressure and the noise it made to the point that his voice was easy for her to hear

"Do you know the things Paul has done for Murkoff? He is not a malevolent person, but under Murkoff's employment, the things he did to people, innocent people, not the sociopathic career criminals within the corporation's ranks.." he spoke in a somewhat gentler but still low and raspy voice above her while the warm water continued to flow down the both of them, and she listened with some interest, unwilling to say anything for the time being "The heavy frequency of the emotional burden he carries is imperceptible to you, but indisputable to me. A layer of misery, regret and shame, underneath a facade of detachment…" A sorrowful soft sigh escaped Alyssa, feeling like she was also already too familiar with those particular emotions "His feelings are.. justified, his targets innocent. Unlike ours."

His words began making Alyssa somewhat uncomfortable, she took a step back until she bumped into him, who placed one arm across her abdomen, but she could tell that he allowed his grip to be weak enough for her to push it away and leave if she so wished. Even so, she remained still and listened as he continued

"And yet, those feelings are drowned by a far greater force. His love for his daughter. He did it all for her, he keeps doing it all for her, he is going to conspire against his colleagues for her, and this time, he is not going to regret his actions, because he knows what kind of people will be targeted." Alyssa swallowed and her gaze dropped to the floor as his voice got increasingly more serious as he spoke "The kind of people who knew the experiments below Mount Massive without even questioning them, who are continuing such experiments in other secluded locations, who assassinate whistleblowers, journalists, judges and politicians at their first move against Murkoff."

Alyssa's hands rose to cover her increasingly saddening expression, painfully familiar with the things he spoke, too many times had she read article after article of people mysteriously dying or disappearing and leaving behind evidence of their intentions against the corporation, as well as recalling Waylon and his family.

"So he has no regrets about these.. he loves his daughter, and he knows it will end. Sooner or later, this will end." His hands slowly rose and rested on her shoulders before his voice lowered again to a softer tone "And how about you, Alyssa? You know your life is not the only one at risk. Do you love your family? Do you have anyone whose life is worth you sitting in a car while I do what's necessary to keep us alive?"

This time, his words really did sting, while she still couldn't at all consider their future deeds justifiable and discard her feelings, the situation and actions of Paul had made her see her own position from a broader perspective, and how unfortunate the man's case was for having to hurt innocent people, much unlike themselves, a difference that, as far as she was concerned, was far from minor. A few long thoughtful seconds later, she turned around and hugged him in a weak grip around the waist, resting her head against his chest, then nodded slowly.

Without really considering his action, he placed one arm around her back, pulling her tighter against him, while he ran his other hand through her wet hair down her back, a small temptation to continue moving it lower crossing his mind, which he resisted.

A soft sigh left Alyssa, the new understanding raising some of the emotional weight off her shoulders, as well as his closeness being more than a little comforting. Very soon, a particular memory came back to her, so similar yet so different than the current situation, of the first day they arrived back at the hotel by themselves and she cried in the shower, until he consoled and convinced her to assist him by requesting her to simply remain close enough to maintain their link. A sense of bitter amusement crossed her mind as she recalled it, how much easier he had made it seem back then, and how complicated it seemed to her now, despite the fact that, in the end, he had been right all along, even now, all that was required of her was to remain close enough, and yet, even though she understood she had little choice in the matter, it still was one of the most difficult tasks she faced in her life.

"It's time." The Walrider's voice brought her out of her thoughts, not without resurfacing that sense of dread as well, since she now had to face the reality she feared, but she did her best to bury it by recalling the things he just told her, considering the safety of her family and the risk Murkoff posed to them, as well as the horrifying possibility of the nightmares from the asylum happening in other locations. For a moment, she considered making a mental note to ask Paul a few details about that, but soon dismissed the idea, remembering that she already had far more bad news than she needed, and deciding it was better to not actively seek more, at least for the time being.

With clear hesitation, she stepped away from him and walked out of the shower with a small nod, the reminders helping to motivate her and suppress some of her emotions.

After drying herself, she walked out into the bedroom and almost jumped when she spotted a hooded masked man in black leaning against the wall next to the door, then quickly remembered it was just the Walrider's disguise, and rushed to dress herself faster, seeing as he was ready and she was nude.

With some warmth in her cheeks, she rushed to put her clothes on, unsure why she felt so uncomfortable, until she noticed his gaze seemed to be following her, which did not help her minor embarrassment. When she wiggled her hips as she put her panties on, however, he had to resist the desire to walk up to her, push her to the floor and fuck her into further submission, the urge being more difficult to suppress than he would've thought.

The slight squeeze of the straps of the new panties on her hips allowed her to feel a hint of dull pain, when she looked down, she was surprised to see some faint remains of bruises on the skin of her hips, and the fact that she could distinguish the shape of clawed fingers brought some color to her cheeks

"Uhm.. Did you.. not heal these?" she asked awkwardly, not wanting to sound entitled in some way, while throwing a quick glance towards him then down at the bruises

"No." he stated plainly without hesitation, making her feel slightly more uncomfortable, but she pushed herself to ask for clarification

"Well.. Why not?"

The way he stared at the bruises on her hips then watched her attentively for a few silent seconds drew some more warmth to her cheeks, and even more so when he finally spoke slowly, in a deep gravelly voice

"Precious sight…"

With a short quick inhale and some weakness in her knees, she made an effort to push away the inappropriate thoughts that came upon hearing his words and the manner in which he spoke them, then hurried to finish dressing herself. When she put her tank top on, however, she noticed it wasn't long enough to fully cover the bruises on her hips, while her pants couldn't reach high enough to conceal them from below, bringing the embarrassing realization that they might had been visible the whole time without her having a clue.

Pushing away the uncomfortable understanding, she finished dressing up and, after double-checking she took everything she needed, they walked out and into the elevator, but just after she pressed the button to ground floor, another sudden realization made her gasp

"Crap, the documents! The photos-"

"I hid them." the Walrider interrupted her, his statement quickly washing away her abrupt worries, and her shoulders dropped in relief "You wish to drive?" his question took her slightly off guard, as her mind was already beginning to drift to unpleasant things, she gave him a puzzled look, until he clarified "The keys."

"O-oh, I took them." She said as she began searching her jacket pockets with haste, then the pocket on the inside of it, only to fail finding the car keys and get a little frustrated at how unfocused on the present her mind was, but then again, she was well aware it was with good reason.

After a mumbled confused cuss at her inability to find what she was looking for, a small yelp left her when he suddenly shoved his hand in the back pocket of her tight pants, over the keys inside it, quickly reminding her of where she placed them in a hurry.

"Right! Right, that's where.. thanks, y-you can take them, I don't think it's safe for me to drive right now."

She wasn't too surprised when instead of pulling the keys out, he took the opportunity to squeeze her ass, drawing a small mewl out of her and bringing some warmth to her cheeks. Almost on reflex, she grabbed onto the collar of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss, which he eagerly returned. What she didn't expect, however, was being pushed up against the elevator wall as he deepened the kiss while he held her up with his hips and other hand under her thigh, and let out a low pleased growl that made her feel weak.

Despite the fact that she knew full well it was both the wrong time and place for such things, she needed a distraction more than ever, but her eyes shot open when she felt the elevator slowing to a halt, and she managed to push him back just enough so she could whisper hurriedly

"Down, someone's coming!"

With hesitation and after a displeased grunt, he finally acquiesced, later than she would have preferred, remaining close in front of her after putting her down just as the elevator doors finished opening, and a chattering young couple stepped inside. Their talkative mood seemed to die down when they noticed the tall hooded man in black, who mostly kept his back to them, until the young man spoke in a friendly tone and Australian accent

"Ground floor, mate."

Not waiting to see if the Walrider would decide to make them feel uneasy, knowing he was displeased at being interrupted, Alyssa pressed the ground floor button on the elevator control panel that was right next to her, and close enough to the Walrider that the stranger preferred to ask instead of approach

"Right on." she flashed a friendly smile from behind him at the two, which seemed to make them more comfortable

"Cheers." The man replied then resumed his conversation with the woman

As the elevator continued descending, the Walrider discreetly began moving his hand towards Alyssa's waist, which she pushed back down with a smile and whispered "No." His shoulders slumping in defeat and some annoyance at the people behind him slightly grew her amusement, and she hid her wider smile from them behind him.

Once the elevator reached the ground floor, the couple stepped out, and Alyssa's mood turned considerably more serious in record time upon noticing the exit to the hotel and the sight and sounds of the busy city outside, but she swallowed and made an effort to remain focused as she closely followed the Walrider to the doors.


	35. Chapter 35

Stepping outside, the chilly night air on her face was like an abrupt wake-up call, much ruder than she was ready for, instilling a deep sense of foreboding in her, to the point that her walking pace slowed considerably. Noticing her hesitation and growing unease, the Walrider grabbed her hand rather roughly and tightly, and pulled her closer, making her walk faster across the street and into the underground parking lot.

His gesture slightly unnerved Alyssa further, the more they walked through the mostly empty, cold concrete area, the more she could almost feel the atmosphere around them getting increasingly more grim, but she couldn't even tell if it was just her changing state of mind, or something else, less perceivable yet noticeable enough to her.

As she listened to their echoing footsteps, a distant short laugh briefly distracted her, she turned to notice a small group of people getting into a van while chattering to each other, their seemingly carefree attitude shining even more light on how ominous her own situation was.

Her gaze reluctantly turned to the Walrider at her side, who hadn't said a word, nor showed the slightest hint of hesitation, his demeanor growing her sense of discomfort as well, then the thought crossed her mind, how at ease she felt with him mere minutes ago, to the point that she pulled him by the collar and kissed him, while now, each passing second added to her increasing internal turmoil. The drastic difference almost made her want to slap herself and question her own sanity and sense of morality, a lot more so when she recalled both the night they spent together, and what he was going to do to someone in less than an hour.

Suddenly, the squeeze on her hand brought her out of her increasingly grim thoughts, and only then did she realize she was standing next to her car, passenger door held open by him, waiting for her. After a few hesitant, absent moments, she mentally gathered herself and got in. She watched him walk around the car with almost painfully conflicting emotions, before being interrupted, she was just about to ponder how perhaps it wasn't only Paul and Pauline who were hostages, perhaps she herself could qualify as one, considering the fact that she could be stopped from leaving and she had little to no choice in what was going to happen to the Murkoff attorneys. As indisputably true as that was, she still couldn't deny the sense of safety and relief she felt when he got in the car, next to her, she still couldn't bring herself to emotionally distance herself from him.

On the road, she remained mostly quiet, preferring to share her attention between reminding herself of the danger Murkoff posed to her and her family, which quenched some of the guilt brewing inside her, and getting mentally lost in the oddly relaxing sight of passing cars and people on the street.

"You know what's funny?.." Alyssa eventually said softly and half absentmindedly as she rested her head against the window, noticing they were leaving the busy city and approaching the suburbia "When I went to the asylum, it was.. an emotional decision, it wasn't even a rational, calculated one. I wanted to do it for a long time, but I was too scared.. It was a nightmare, of all things, that was the last straw, and pushed me over the edge.." A small, bitter scoff left her as she continued to stare out the window "All this started over a bad dream.."

Her voice faded, followed by a soft sigh, her breath blurring a tiny spot on the glass. She didn't expect any answer, nor would it bother her to be ignored, since she was partly thinking out loud, but to some surprise, she received a reply

"What was it about?" the Walrider didn't sound entirely uninterested, although his voice held a very serious, almost detached and focused tone that made her slightly uneasy

"I.. was one of the patients there, at Mount Massive. Or.. at least I was seeing through the eyes of one." Alyssa spoke with a faint frown as she recalled the still disturbingly vivid imagery of the dream "They were.. conducting experiments, like I feared they were, and.. I-I don't want to remember the details, but it was horrible, I was abused, I felt terrified, alone, abandoned, defenseless, under the cold hands of heartless people who saw me as little more than a lab rat.." she swallowed, pushing away the surfacing emotions the dream evoked, and wrapped her arms around herself, making an effort to keep her voice above a whisper before it faded "Not a person.."

When she noticed that the neighborhood they were now in looked very similar to what she'd seen in the photo Paul had showed them, she felt tempted to bring her gaze back in the car and keep it there, until a quick realization changed her mind almost instantly: Hers had been only one bad dream, but for so many others, it had been a living nightmare, ongoing for years, and even worse, it was not only possible but also likely that the same types of living nightmares were secretly happening in other locations under Murkoff's administration. Meanwhile, they were here, so close to one of the people determined to protect Murkoff from the consequences of their crimes, and in turn, enable the corporation to continue.

Alyssa's unsettled frown deepened ever-so-slightly, although into a rather resentful expression, and she found herself paying more attention to her surroundings instead; the car was going considerably slower, not slowly enough to look suspicious, but enough to allow them more time to analyze the environment. At the late hour, the lights in most of the houses were off, the street lamps providing most of the illumination in the night, which was made darker by the thick layer of clouds above, obscuring the moon. There was barely a shadow of a person to be seen on the sidewalks in the distance, the neighborhood being almost dead quiet, the silence only broken by the occasional dog bark.

"There it is, the silver Benz.." Alyssa planned to sound considerably more determined, but as soon as she noticed the Murkoff attorney's car in the driveway of a house that matched the photo, she couldn't help feeling some of her resolve and motivation diminishing, especially considering that she could see a couple of lights on through the windows. What unsettled her significantly more, however, was the fact that there was another vehicle, a black BMW, parked right outside of Mrs. Mannon's house. Once they drove closer, her widening eyes noticed the license plate of the silver car matched Paul's description, which, much to her chagrin, eliminated any chance of them being at the wrong location.

"W-wait, wait, who the heck's that?!" Alyssa whispered hurriedly, her gaze quickly shifting from the vehicles to the Walrider "There weren't supposed to be two cars, that means she's not alone!"

"Most likely the partner Paul mentioned." the Walrider said in the same serious and focused tone, much unlike Alyssa's, who shook her head quickly

"No, no, we can't-" she paused when she noticed he was driving well past the house, and felt a sense of relief "Yeah, I was gonna say, this is not the right time, we picked the wrong night, it would be a lot safer if she was alone, let's get outta here."

Her relief, however, was rather quickly washed away by the Walrider "We are not leaving, a witness will not be a problem."

Alyssa stared at him in disbelief for a few solid moments, trying to make sense of his words "What?! How the hell will someone seeing you tear a Murkoff lawyer to pieces not be a problem?" she whispered with clear agitation, throwing a glance behind at the increasingly distant house.

"I will not do that." The way his voice grew slightly more gruff and low in response made her settle down, not wanting to evoke any genuine anger from him, but to some relief, he spoke slightly softer as he continued "I would like to, but I cannot, I've killed too many of their employees in that way, so any sort of dismemberment or forceful tearing of tissue would be too obvious to Murkoff that it was me. If I kill their lawyer like that, they could immediately take drastic measures to protect the rest from me, to the point of EMP escorts, which would ruin everything."

Alyssa remained quiet for a few seconds, biting her lip with concern, but she understood, and nodded "I see.. But still, a witness? I-I mean you made it sound like you're gonna let him live, which I appreciate, but why?"

"For the same reason I will not tear her apart, this needs to appear as a murder committed by a human, and the more evidence towards this, the better."

"You.. want him to tell the police that someone broke in and he witnessed the murder." Alyssa whispered with a faint thoughtful frown, then paused when the car stopped in a small parking lot, not too far away from the house of the target. "And.. you want me to wait here.. Alone." She said with some concern after the engine was shut down.

"You do not want to see what will happen inside that house, and it will be better for them to only witness one intruder. This neighborhood should be safe enough, lock the doors and keep alert, if you sense yourself in danger, your fear will rise, and I will know."

Alyssa swallowed, but slowly nodded in agreement, she had other minor questions, but she knew he would be careful, and said nothing as she watched the window next to him slide down, while the nanites that composed his body dispersed into a barely noticeable swarm that floated outside.

Once she saw herself seemingly alone, she couldn't help her feeling of unease, but pushed herself to speak under her breath, hoping he could still hear her

"Don't forget the surveillance cameras. You could cut the power if you want, and if they have a backup generator you could take that one out too."

To her surprise, his answer sounded as if it was said with a smirk and a hint of amusement "So now you are willing to assist me."

His words made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but she shook her head along with the feeling away "It's just that.. if we have to do this, let's do it properly." she whispered as her gaze moved around the vicinity of the car, unsure of his present location.

"And so it shall be done.." he whispered back in a husky voice that she couldn't help but find distracting as well as unsettling, considering the current situation, then slightly flinched when she could have sworn she felt a hand briefly touch her cheek, despite the fact that she could see nothing.

She remained quiet as a few hairs rose on the back of her neck, and by the time she shook the feeling off, she figured she was alone, which quickly prompted her to raise the window back up, lock the doors, and begin the tense wait.

* * *

The swarm of nanites floated through the quiet neighborhood like smoke, invisible in the darkness, until it reached the house in question. When Paul had first mentioned the surveillance cameras, the Walrider briefly considered cutting the power to disable them, but decided against it. Using nanites, he jammed the exit doors shut, as well as the windows, after he damaged the motion sensor of one and cracked it open.

Once he slipped inside, still in swarm form, he took the time to analyze the moderately large house, and it wasn't long until he spotted the brown-haired man, Jason Winters, that was in the photo next to the lawyer, and who looked considerably younger in person, wearing a bath robe, casually standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as he sipped from a wine glass and flipped the channels of the television in the corner.

Upstairs, he searched until he found Mrs. Mannon in the bathroom, dressed in a blue night gown and humming as she brushed her humid hair in front of the mirror. The door of the bathroom was open, and the surveillance camera in the hallway would see the way it would look as if the door was closing by itself if he intervened, so he patiently waited a few minutes until the woman walked into one of the bedrooms, then jammed the door shut.

Floating back downstairs, he moved out of camera view, near the cracked-open window, and gathered his nanites to form a human, but different in appearance than his usual disguise. The microscopic machines moved into position to assemble the shape of a masked man wearing opaque goggles, a bulletproof vest over a long-sleeved shirt with gloves, and dark grey camo pants with combat boots. On his belt, he formed a holster with a pistol inside, simply for intimidation purposes, along with a karambit knife.

With the remaining, smaller swarm, he was able to figure out that Mr. Winters was still in the kitchen, while Mrs. Mannon didn't seem to be panicking in the bedroom upstairs, so he quietly walked into the garage and picked up a duct tape roll.

As he walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, he knew he was going to be caught on camera if he took just a few steps further, which didn't make him hesitate. Unbeknownst to Alyssa, he had been planning for the whole incident to be recorded and seen by the police and other Murkoff associates.

Walking up to the kitchen but remaining hidden behind the wall, now in clear view of the surveillance camera, he waited a few moments until Mr. Winters turned his back to him just a little more, then pulled a piece of the duct tape. The noise it made, however, alerted the man, but before he could turn around, the Walrider rushed at him, grabbed him from behind in a choke hold and forced the tape over his mouth, muffling his panicked sounds.

Briefly tightening his grip drew the man's attention enough to make his squirming diminish and listen to him as he spoke in the most human voice he could manage

"Listen carefully, I'm not here for you, you could walk out of this alive, but if you get in my way, I _will_ splatter your brains on this wall, do you understand?"

To emphasize his point, he took out his pistol, making sure Mr. Winters caught sight of it, before pressing the barrel against the man's temple, who almost immediately gave a quick, shaky nod in response, his breath fast and shallow with fear.

Without a moment wasted, the Walrider pulled one of the kitchen chairs and shoved the man on it, then secured his legs to the chair legs with duct tape, along with his hands to the backrest. From the pocket of the bath robe that Mr. Winters wore, he picked up a phone, whose battery he pulled out, tossed it in the sink, then walked up to the windows and pulled the blinds closed, so on the rare chance that someone would walk by at the late hour, they would be unable to see inside.

The bound man followed his every movement with wide eyes, his heart pounding even harder when the intruder returned to the kitchen and picked up one of the knives from the wooden knife block on the counter, but to some relief, he only cut the cord of the phone on the wall.

Mr. Winters watched as the Walrider picked up the remote control from the counter, changed the channel to a music one, and increased the volume considerably, an act which puzzled him, until the realization hit him that the music could be used to mask screams for help, and more fear sank into him.

With the man bound and no means to interrupt him, the Walrider walked upstairs, and just as he approached the bedroom he trapped Mrs. Mannon in, he heard her jiggling the door handle in an attempt to leave the room, followed by her fist hitting the door

"Jason! Can you hear me? The damn door won't open!" the woman shouted with annoyance and a hint of concern "What's with the music, turn that down! Hello?!"

The Walrider said nothing, only stepped in front of the door, removed the nanites from the lock that jammed it, and waited. Moments later, the woman was able to turn the handle, an annoyed but relieved sigh left her, but once she swung the door open, her face went pale at the sight of the intruder.

Her mouth opened for a scream, half of which managed to escape her, before he placed his hand over her lips and roughly turned her around to grab her, then began pulling her down the stairs as she squirmed and kicked.

Once they reached the kitchen and she caught sight of her lover bound in the chair, however, her effort to escape was distracted and diminished by the surge of fear at the realization that the only other person in the house was also helpless.

"Scream, and he dies. Understand?" the Walrider's voice made the woman flinch, but she tried to calm her heavy panicked breaths and nodded.

Slowly, he moved his hand away from her mouth, and once he was content with the fact that she remained quiet, he pulled another chair, across the table from the man, and shoved her down on it.

A yelp left her as she landed, she looked over at her partner who was as frightened as she was, then over at the intruder and swallowed upon noticing the gun in the holster on his belt.

"L-listen.." the woman began speaking in a trembling voice, which, despite her fear, still held a noticeable amount of animosity "This is-"

"No." the Walrider interrupted her, pulling the pistol out and aiming it at her head, which immediately silenced her and drew a sharp, frightful inhale out of her "This is not the time to listen, not the time for you to speak. You spoke enough already, Murkoff bitch, you only perpetuate the deaths of the innocent."

When Mrs. Mannon seemed to remain quiet, despite the growing frown on her face, he put the gun back in his holster, then stepped towards Mr. Winters, whose heart skipped a beat when he stopped next to him and reached a hand to his face. To the man's relief, however, he only pulled the duct tape away from his mouth, the rough removal evoking some stinging pain.

"Please, please, this has to be some sort of mistake-" Mr. Winters said between heavy breaths as he made an effort to keep calm, but the intruder interrupted him

"You know who she is. What she does." He said more as a statement than a question, the man's eyes shifted between him and his lover, his brain attempting to formulate an answer he thought would be satisfactory

"S-she's a lawyer. Is this about that trial? Please, it was all a huge misunderstanding, they're gonna clear it up really soon, right, Ver?"

He looked over to the woman across from him, but the intruder spoke before she could

"Clear it up…" he repeated slowly as he recalled the previous times Murkoff got in legal trouble, only for their lawyers to get them out and enable their covert operations to remain undisclosed, and thus continuing his own captivity.

"That's right, it was a misunderstanding." Mrs. Mannon spoke up somewhat nervously "The public will get all the details soon, we just need some more time." Her heart rate picked up further when he slowly stepped towards her, but she pushed herself to continue, the undertone of hostility in her voice noticeable to him now "Listen, look over there, above the couch." She signaled towards the living room "There's a security camera and microphone inside that bulb, upstairs too. You're already on video record, which can't be erased from here, _but_ , there's a safe in the closet of the first bedroom on the left, 92048, take anything you want, leave, and I'll have all evidence of you here erased. No one has to know about any of this, okay? It will be like this never happened.. Just.. leave.."

The Walrider took a few slow steps towards the low wall leading to the living room next to the kitchen, and briefly stared at the security camera that the woman indicated. The tense silence increased the anxiety and fear in the couple, and the woman flinched when he suddenly walked back up to her rather quickly, took his knife out, placed the curved pointed tip under her chin and pulled up, forcing her to move her chin up so that the blade wouldn't pierce her skin. A sharp inhale left her, and she refrained from speaking, both to avoid accidentally hurting herself on the knife and due to the fact that her proposition only seemed to have displeased him, but her partner spoke up loudly

"Don't! Please, she's sorry, please don't do it!"

The couple's hearts threatened to beat out of their chests during the few long seconds in which the intruder didn't move, until he finally removed the knife from Mrs. Mannon's neck and stepped away, drawing an exhale of relief out of her. Once he walked slightly further away and she caught her breath, she managed to whisper towards her partner

"F..fuck.. I told you I should've hired guards."

Before he could reply, the Walrider interjected

"Unnecessary casualties." he remained facing away from them, twirling the knife in his hand as he spoke "Not that it would matter to you, Mrs. Mannon, considering your employers. Nor would it matter to you, Mr. Winters, would it, now? You know what happened at Mount Massive, don't you? You know what she is protecting."

The man swallowed, his wide eyes shifting between the woman and the intruder "I don't know the details, I haven't seen the video-" he tried to keep his voice steady, until he realized he had done a rather poor job at lying "I-I mean I've heard there's a video of what happened at the asylum online, I haven't seen it yet, but she told me it's just a huge misunderstanding, and I trust her."

When the Walrider said nothing, Mrs. Mannon hesitantly spoke up "How.. how do you know his name? Who are you? Were.. you a patient?" the intruder's concern with the asylum drove her to ask, and noticing that he still stood facing away from them, her eyes shifted towards the knife on the kitchen counter, but she refrained from moving from her chair.

"Patient?.." the Walrider said in a thoughtful manner, raising his hand to his temple as if he struggled to remember something, knowing that the recording was going to be viewed by Murkoff and police investigators, intending to mislead them on his identity.

"Yes." The woman spoke with a little more courage, nodding, and continued after considering his attire, weapons, and manner of speech "Murkoff had a veteran's program at Mount Massive, therapy for post-traumatic stress disorders. Were you a soldier? Can you remember?"

The Walrider recognized the manipulative softer tone in which she'd asked him those questions, but didn't call her out on it

"I was.." he said with genuine contemplation this time, as he briefly recalled a few past lives, then realized his voice was beginning to sound too rough again, and pretended to clear his throat before speaking again in a more human voice "A long time ago."

Since he didn't need physical eyes to see, he had been able to face away from Mrs. Mannon while watching how she very cautiously got up from her seat, grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter, then hid it by placing it on the chair between her legs and sat back down.

His shoulders rose and dropped in a sigh, and as he walked back towards the woman, he noticed the new look of concern on the man's face.

"You have something to tell me, Mr. Winters." He said mostly out of curiosity to see the man's reaction, who remained quiet for a few moments, then spoke hesitantly

"Please, I don't know anything, I swear, if you wanna know about Murkoff, she knows a lot more than me, s-she's been their lawyer for eight years, I only met her last year!"

The man's refusal to tell him about the knife didn't surprise him, since he hoped that could help him as well, neither did his attempt to shift his focus onto her, and neither did the glare the woman sent him upon hearing his words.

Despite the look she gave, Mrs. Mannon kept her voice mostly steady and somewhat neutral "You didn't want the money, you want information then? He's right, I'm the one who has it. The laptop on the fridge contains confidential information, maybe you'll find what you need, alright? Just bring it over to me and I'll give you full access."

Her hands were already resting on the table, she didn't look up as the intruder looked down at her, then at the closed laptop on top of the refrigerator near the corner of the kitchen. After he turned away from her and took a step towards the fridge, her hand already began moving downwards, carefully grabbing the handle of the knife in a tight but slightly trembling grip and holding it hidden between her knees.

Once the intruder was more than a few feet away, she cautiously stood up, and as quietly and quickly as she could, began approaching from behind. With the thin sharp knife gasped tightly in both hands, she raised it up, aimed at the man's spine, and began bringing it down with as much force as she could muster.

The Walrider didn't even need to look behind, he could already see her faint reflection in the glossy tiles on the wall. Before the blade could make contact, he swiftly turned around, grabbing and twisting the woman's wrist, which caused her to drop the knife and evoked a short, pained cry out of her, then roughly spun her around, and with one hard hit on her elbow while holding her wrist, broke her arm at the joint.

Her previous yelp paled in comparison to the loud anguished scream she let out this time, which was partially masked by the music on the television. As she still whined in pain, he picked up the knife from the floor and shoved her back on the chair; Mr. Winters had been watching wide-eyed but quietly the whole time, yet when he saw the intruder slam the woman's broken arm on the table, only to stab the knife through her hand and the wooden table, deep enough that the blade reached well into the other side, her partner screamed in horror, while she screamed in pain again.

"Jesus fucking Chri-" Mr. Winters closed his eyes, disturbed by the sight he'd just witnessed, and further more by the blood that began spreading through the white table cloth.

"Bad decision." the Walrider said over the woman's pained cries, who could no longer stand up and attempt anything even if she mustered the courage to. He watched her for a short while as she began outright crying and sobbing, then looked up at him with wet eyes but dry cheeks and spoke in a pleading voice

"Please.. Please stop.. God, it hurts so bad.. Please let us go.." her words followed by more, quieter sobs, and a sympathetic look towards her from Mr. Winters.

The Walrider, on the other hand, only silently walked around her, and leaned down at her side, still noticing the lack of tears down her cheeks, despite her continuous sobs

"That is what they said too, Mrs. Mannon.." he whispered in a softer voice as memories from the asylum surfaced "The hundreds of men and women Murkoff used as lab rats.. You've seen them before, haven't you? You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

After a few seconds without the woman saying a word, and averting her gaze from him, he grasped her free hand in his, with some gentleness that drew her attention. She still seemed hesitant to make a sound, until he suddenly grabbed her thumb and violently bent it backwards, breaking the joints, which drew a pained scream out of her and made the man jump in his seat and cringe at the sight

"Answer me, Murkoff bitch!" the Walrider shouted in a deep and raspy, less human voice, still gripping her hand and broken finger tightly when she tried to pull away, his demand being quickly met

"Yes, god dammit! I've seen surveillance tapes, I know!" Mrs. Mannon shouted back, her apparent desperation and sadness seeming to turn into hostility on the spot, but he only pulled a nearby chair to sit down next to her before speaking

"I know you do. What about children, Mrs. Mannon? Does Murkoff stoop that low?"

The woman averted her gaze again, her chest rising with heavy breaths as the adrenaline in her system almost drowned out the pain in both her hands and elbow. When she looked over to her partner, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the look of horror and disbelief he gave her, not the intruder terrorizing the both of them, but her.

She shook her head and pushed herself to speak "I have _never_ heard or seen such a-" but her words were interrupted by him grabbing her index finger and snapping it backwards, erupting another anguished scream from her, followed by several sobs.

Admittedly, the Walrider didn't know if she was lying about this, and he wasn't concerned with the wellbeing of the victims at the asylum as he made himself appear to be, but the more he could mislead investigators, the better. He did not enjoy the infliction of pain either, despite the fact that, as far as he was concerned, she was well deserving of it, but again, he still had to send a message to other Murkoff employees.

This time, however, it was the other man that questioned her "Veronica.. is it true? Did Murkoff ever do things like that to children?" Mr. Winters said somewhat softly, leaning over in his chair towards her as much as he could, in an attempt to make her look at him.

After pushing herself to settle down, she finally looked at him, with a faint scowl "How could you let this happen?" she asked in a condemning tone, which puzzled the man

"What do you mean?"

"This!" She significantly raised her voice suddenly and signaled with her gaze at both her injured hands and at him "I leave you alone for fifteen minutes and you let _this_ happen!"

The man's hurt and confused frown expressed his disbelief at what he was hearing, he had to take a few moments to process her words

"Wh.. Are you serious? I was attacked from behind and tied down, what are you talking about?!" his voice raised a few tones, but the woman shook her head

"Yes, _I am_ serious, are _you_ serious? Why didn't you do anything?!"

Mr. Winters took a few moments to look at her, again stunned by her words "You're blaming me for this.."

"You were alone with him, you could've fought back, called the police, got the gun behind the painting, you knew it was there! How could you be so incompetent?!" she snapped back, and only received a hurt look of betrayal.

"I can't believe you're saying this.. What the fuck is wrong with you? I-I don't even recognize you right now." He shook his head in disbelief again, his words drawing a scoff out of the woman

"Oh please, this sentimental bullshit again, it never fooled me, you know, I knew all along you're in this for the money anyway, you're twenty-six for god's sake, how stupid do you think I am? You think I don't know you 'cougar'-chasing perverts-"

"Oh, come on!" the man protested, but she continued

"No, don't 'come on' me, and don't lie to my face right now, and you know what? If memory serves me right, and it damn sure does, it was _you_ who told me not to hire guards, because we couldn't have sex outside the bedroom, and now look! Look what that brought us! You're responsible for this in more ways than one!" her voice remained loud and her tone hostile, but to this, the man had no response "And I-"

She attempted to continue her furious rant, but the Walrider interrupted "Enough of this." having decided it was time to finish his business and leave, however, the woman only shifted the ire her lover ignited towards him instead

"And you can go to hell! Who the fuck do you think you are to waltz into my house and lecture me for doing my damn job?! If you knew shit about Murkoff you'd know you're done for, you're not gonna get away with this, you're gonna rot in prison, you-"

With frightening speed, the Walrider stood up, knocking down the chair behind him, moved up to her, and forced his hand into her mouth, gripping her tongue and pulling it out past her teeth, then reached for something on his belt. Immediately, Mr. Winters' eyes widened in shock, expecting the worst, his fear confirmed when he noticed the karambit knife from earlier in the intruder's hand, which, in one clean swipe, cut the woman's tongue completely off.

Her partner's terrified scream was drowned by her own ear-piercing shriek of pain and horror, the man watched in disbelief as a copious amount of blood quickly began pouring from her mouth, down her body and onto the floor. Suddenly, the deeply frightening thought passed through his mind, that whoever the man was, he didn't seem interested in robbing them, and he didn't appear that interested in getting information out of them either, apart from the laptop that his girlfriend tried to use as a distraction, which was being ignored, and the few questions he asked, whose answers he seemed to have already known regardless.

To his dread, those two options out of the way only left room for the worst scenario possible: he was there to torture and kill them. The realization made him shut his watering eyes tightly as all sorts of regrets rushed through his mind, mainly his willingness to be in a relationship with the woman, despite his awareness of her employers and their reputation and deeds. Still, he prayed that the words spoken to him earlier, that he would be left alive if he didn't interfere, remained true, and weren't said only to prevent him from fighting back until it was his turn to be subjected to the torment.

Too shaken to speak, he could only listen to the woman across from him continuing to whine in pain, unable to formulate words anymore, while his wide eyes continued to follow the intruder, who slowly paced behind her chair, twirling the curved knife in his hand. When the masked man glanced towards the door, Mr. Winters couldn't help but get his hopes up that he was intending to leave, and to his surprise, he suddenly turned and began walking upstairs, which brought him both relief once he was out of sight, but also tension, since he didn't know what he was planning.

The Walrider stepped inside the first bedroom on the left, and in the closet, as expected, he found a steel safe with a digital lock. With the number combination that the woman gave him, he opened the heavy door and inside found several thick bundles of hundred-dollar bills, along with many pieces of various jewelry adorned with precious stones.

Admittedly, he initially had no interest in the valuables when Mrs. Mannon made her proposition, but he remembered that Alyssa's own money wasn't going to last much longer if they were to remain in the safety of the penthouse at the top of the hotel, so, assembling a black bag out of nanites, he tossed all the cash in it then made his way back downstairs.

When Mr. Winters caught sight of the masked man, his heart resumed its heavy thumping; in the short time he'd been left alone with the woman, he'd been brainstorming what to say or do in order to improve his chances of making it out alive, but he was unable to come up with a solution.

He could only sit and watch as the intruder approached them again, he barely noticed the black bag in his hand as he walked fast, with frightening determination, towards Mrs. Mannon, appearing as if whatever he had planned, he was driven to complete it without hesitation.

In a series of quick movements, he dropped the bag on the floor, walked up behind the woman still moaning in pain, placed his hands on her chin and head, and in a blink of an eye, snapped her neck, almost turning her face towards her back.

Her painful groans were immediately silenced and briefly replaced by the sound of cracking bone, but then quickly followed by the horrified scream of Mr. Winters, who began desperately squirming in his seat, struggling to undo his bindings.

The Walrider didn't pause at his reaction, as soon as the woman's neck broke, he picked up the bag from the floor, and briskly made his way towards the exit in the back of the house, retreating all the nanites from inside, unjamming the front door and all the other windows. As the swarm followed him out, he could still hear the man screaming and struggling in his seat, his voice becoming muffled once he closed the door behind him.

Instead of going out on the sidewalk, he exited the garage and walked behind the house, where he changed his shape back into his usual hooded disguise, as well as shifted the loose bag into a black briefcase. After hopping the fence into the yard of the neighbor on the other street, he calmly began making his way down the sidewalk, back towards where he left the car.

* * *

In the parking lot, despite her worries, Alyssa had been waiting with patience that somewhat surprised even herself. She sat hugging her knees to her chest, leaning against the locked door, resting her head against the window, while the thoughts streamed through her mind. Even though she was still far from approving of what they had to do, she'd been allowing herself to meditate on the issue, and the more she did so, she found herself less distressed about it, and more concerned with the safety of herself and the Walrider, even more so as time continued to pass without his return.

A few sudden knocks on the window on the driver's side interrupted her thoughts, making her jump, and when she looked over, she was more than relieved to see the familiar disguise of the Walrider. She put her feet down, leaned over to unlock the door, and before he even fully got in, she spoke quickly with noticeable concern

"How did it go?"

The Walrider slammed the door shut behind him, placed the briefcase on her lap and turned the engine on before answering

"Just as planned."

The black briefcase on her lap startled her, but a soft sigh of relief left her upon hearing his words "Okay.. alright, good, I-I mean it's done, it's over now." She said, more trying to convince herself and push away the awful feelings she was growing sick of, then picked up the small briefcase as they began driving away "What's this? What's inside?"

She questioned with some caution, examining the container, tempted to open it, but refrained from doing so for the moment

"Not now.. You will see once we have returned to the hotel." He said almost casually, drawing a semi-serious frown on Alyssa's face.

Unsatisfied with his answer and tired of waiting, she decided to try opening it up herself. To test the waters, she placed the briefcase upright on her lap, with the latches in plain view, then slowly moved her hand towards them, experimentally, while watching his reaction from the corner of her eye.

When her finger attempted to open one latch, he casually reached over and lightly slapped her hand away

"Hey!" Alyssa protested, but he spoke in a semi-strict tone

"I said no."

"But it's kinda freaking me out! You just went there and.. and did _that_ , and came back with a creepy briefcase you won't let me open? What's inside it, someone's hand?" she said with exaggerated outrage, pouting, but some genuine concern and curiosity as well, then experimentally scratched the surface with her nails "Is.. is this even real? I mean is it made of nanites? It's pretty smooth.."

After receiving no answer, she decided to shake the container, and a gasp left her when she heard and felt something moving around inside "I heard that! It sounds.. a bit hard? Oh my god, is it really a hand? Are we gonna leave the remains of that sick woman on the doorstep of another Murkoff lawyer or something?"

The Walrider had to admit, despite her silly paranoia, he was pleasantly surprised at her behavior and mood, he expected her to be even more somber and shaken when he came back, even though she was concerned with the contents of the briefcase, he could tell she wasn't being entirely serious about it. He figured it could be just a different, less negative way to deal with her anxiety and stress over the situation, however, what surprised him the most, was her attitude towards him, he would not have been surprised at all if she hated him when he returned and distanced herself from him, yet she seemed far from it. The question crossed his mind as to why he felt somewhat glad about this, then he noticed her struggling to open the briefcase again, and gently placed his hand over hers, stopping it from fiddling with the latch and drawing her attention.

"There are no body parts inside, Alyssa, I promise. You should sleep, we will be back to the hotel in a while." His words deflated both her worries and curiosity, a tired sigh left her as he returned his hand on the steering wheel and she placed the briefcase down

"I.. sorry, I get a bit weird when I'm tired and stressed at the same time." She said softly as she leaned back in her seat and lowered the window a few inches, taking a deep breath of the chilly but refreshing night air "I don't think I'll be able to sleep for some time, though.."

Back at the hotel, Alyssa held onto the bizarre briefcase tightly as they ascended via the elevator with a few other people. Once they stepped into the apartment and locked the door behind her, she rather eagerly walked into the living room and flicked the light on

"Okay, you said I'll see when we're back, we're here, now what's inside?" she asked with reignited curiosity and still a hint of concern as she began trying to open the latches, again, in vain.

The Walrider, who hadn't yet shifted from his hooded disguise, casually walked up to her, took the briefcase from her hand, and tossed it onto the coffee table. As soon as it landed, the object disintegrated into a cloud of nanites, which flowed away, leaving behind the pile of cash, the sight of which made Alyssa's tired eyes slowly widen in disbelief.

"What.. is this..?" she asked hesitantly, taking a step back almost instinctively, nearly bumping into the Walrider who walked behind her and dropped his weight on a couch

"Financial security." He said matter-of-factly, and Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, but had difficulty finding her words at first

"But.. you stole this, from her, right?"

"Dead Murkoff dogs do not need money. We do, if you want to remain in the safety of this place."

Alyssa bit her lip and hesitantly sat down on the armchair next to the table, crossing one leg over the other, her concerned gaze unmoved from the pile of cash. As uncomfortable as it made her, especially the means by which it was acquired, she couldn't deny that he had a point, the penthouse was safe, but also very expensive, her own money wouldn't have lasted for much longer.

"I.. Okay, but still, this is like, almost like, blood money, right?"

"Not necessarily. And I checked it for invisible ink, any sort of markers, it's clean."

A long sigh left Alyssa, although some of it was of relief, she remained quiet for a few seconds as she stared at the pile on the table, rubbing her temple thoughtfully.

"Fine.." she whispered, her voice coming out weaker than she intended, and cleared her throat before speaking normally "Fair point, I would've had to go empty my debit card soon otherwise, and after this.. adventure, I don't feel safe using anything that can identify me anymore. I-I know that she was a terrible person and what she was trying to do, but.. I'm still not happy with this.."

A deep gravelly rumble from the Walrider drew her attention, he leaned back in his seat before speaking in a husky voice "Would you prefer the 'safety' of traveling the roads, instead, my dear?"

Alyssa tried to hide her smile behind her hair as she glanced down and lightly shook her head, but she couldn't hide it in her tone of voice "Well, when you put it like that.. No, of course not." A small yawn reminded her of how tired she was, and she decided to try and sleep regardless of how restless her mind was "Sorry, think I'm gonna crash soon. At least I hope so. Alright then, I.. should put this in the locked drawer in the bedroom, I guess."

She stood up and took a step towards the table, but hesitated to reach for the pile of cash, until she remembered that she didn't even have any fingerprints anymore, and felt more comfortable with handling the money.

Once it was securely locked in the bedroom drawer, she took a quick hot shower to relax, then gladly put on the soft, comfortable cotton pajamas. She was grateful that this time she had been able to put them on, playfully biting her lip recalling how she was prevented from it the last time and what had happened, then allowed herself to fall on the bed, her body deeply relaxed, but her mind still restless.


	36. Chapter 36

More than two hours later, Alyssa finally accepted that her fear was realized, she could not fall asleep regardless of how much she tried to still her mind, it simply refused to slow down. She wasn't necessarily surprised, but felt slightly bad at the fact that she was only annoyed that she was being kept awake by the thoughts of what had happened to Mrs. Mannon and her lover.

Soon, the distant sound of a helicopter's spinning blades began droning ever closer, and with its proximity, Alyssa's nerves and unease increased. She lied quietly and listened carefully, but as far as she could tell, it was only one small helicopter, and it appeared to pass by the top of the building, until the humming sound slowly began to diminish as it flew further and further away, fading Alyssa's worries as it did so, and allowing her to return her efforts to the seemingly impossible task of sleep.

Giving up on remaining still and relaxed in the hopes of falling asleep, she allowed herself to twist and turn again, which made her realize she was getting slightly sweaty, adding to her frustration. With her legs, she tossed the thin covers off her body, only to feel no difference in temperature, so with no hesitation, she wriggled out of her moderately thick pajama pants and pushed them away with her feet.

A soft sigh of content left her at the sensation of cooling down comfortably, it gave her the impression that perhaps now she could finally fall asleep, but half an hour later, she realized she had been wrong. With added frustration, she decided to slip out of her somewhat tight panties, again, in the hopes that more comfort would allow her to finally fall asleep.

Much to her chagrin, she soon noticed that it seemed to have the very opposite effect, feeling the air freely between her legs only distracted her and redirected her mind to more inappropriate thoughts, but it also reminded her of what she sometimes did when she couldn't fall asleep.

She only gave the idea a second of consideration before dismissing it, despite the fact that her mind refused to rest, she felt her body was too tired to even stand up without putting in a lot more effort than usual, let alone pleasure herself as a last resort to fall asleep.

Still, out of curiosity, she lazily lowered a hand between her legs, and when she slid a finger between her folds, she pulled it back slick.

"Ugh…" she whispered and slowly shook her head at herself before rolling over on her side, both confused and frustrated.

 _What the hell's.. wrong with y.._ Her tired mind mumbled, until a thought passed by, wondering where the Walrider was and what he was doing. Almost immediately, her innocent questions were followed by much less innocent ideas, so she quickly pushed the thoughts away, still clinging to the hope that she may fall asleep before sunrise.

To even her own surprise, she gave up on that idea only several minutes later, exasperated with her fruitless efforts, and clumsily crawled out of bed. A mild lightheadedness struck her once she pushed herself to stand on her own two feet, but she managed to wash it away by splashing some cold water on her face, the feeling of which making her slightly shudder.

Before leaving the bedroom, she threw a glance out the window only to see the usual busy city below, and the dark night sky above, still absent of any sun rays from the east. Her tired, half-open eyes then aimed towards her panties and pajama pants on the messy bed, but she felt hesitant to dress herself, both because of how tired she was, and because she was content with her pajama shirt being long enough to cover her rear.

Making her way to the living room, she found it mostly dark, only lit by a few floor lamps, giving it an oddly comforting atmosphere, and the thought struck her how much more pleasant the hotel and city would be if it wasn't for the whole situation she was trapped in. Her gaze turned to the television, but she resisted the temptation to turn it on and check the news, feeling far too mentally exhausted to take in the reports of the murder.

It did, however, suggest to her that perhaps it was safe enough to buy a brand-new smartphone or laptop, only for informative and entertainment purposes. The thought of using the money the Walrider stole from the Murkoff lawyer's home after killing her did make her feel slightly ill to her stomach, but she made an effort to push the unpleasant feeling away, reminding herself of the woman's deeds, and what would have happened if she was allowed to continue defending the corporation.

To her surprise, she managed to make herself feel better about it rather easily, which, in turn, gave her mixed feelings, she paused and her gaze dropped to the floor, somewhat unsettled at her ability to simply will away the negative feelings that previously, she had been so persistent in justifying. Moments later, she shook her head and the conflicting emotions away, telling herself that her mind was simply too exhausted to think very rationally at the time.

Sliding open the glass door near the corner, she took one step onto the mostly dark terrace, and slightly flinched when she noticed a hooded figure near the railing, before she realized it was the Walrider, still in his disguise.

As she approached him in a tired gait, a breeze of cool air passed between her thighs, briefly distracting her and making her pull her shirt lower, until she noticed that her companion wasn't simply standing behind the railing, he was sitting on it, his legs hanging over the enormous height below, while his hands rested on his knees.

He appeared very casual and comfortable as he sat there, while the very sight made Alyssa's skin crawl with her fear of heights, despite the fact that she knew he was immune to that danger, she couldn't help her instinctual unease.

With some hurry and apprehension, she stepped up behind him, the chilly wind ruffling her hair, but stopped when he suddenly spoke up

"You are not sleeping."

Alyssa felt an urge to reply to his observation with a smartass comment, but resisted the temptation and wrapped her arms around his back, more than a little uncomfortable at how close she was to the railing

"And you are not helping me by sitting there. Christ, it's making me feel lightheaded just watching you, come on.. Don't." she said as she began pulling him back, barely making an inch of progress. Increasing her effort did nothing, and she paused to regain what little strength her tired body had, then after another failed pull, rested her forehead on his back in defeat.

"..Please?" she mumbled as she pulled him weakly again, and after a short pause, to her relief, he gave in, and moved to stand behind the railing, still too close to it for her comfort, but it felt significantly better.

When he turned around to face her, leaned back against the railing, and crossed his arms as he watched her, however, she quickly began feeling rather awkward, unsure why, and of what he expected from her, so she said the first thing that crossed her mind

"So uh.. you fancy wearing clothes now or something? What's the deal?" she asked with some discomfort, holding onto the sleeve of her other arm behind her back, and keeping her legs tighter together, in an attempt to prevent more chilly air from flowing between them.

"News helicopter flew past. Recording cameras and I make for a.. troublesome combination."

"Ooh, so that's what it.. Right, right." Alyssa said briefly glancing at the dark cloudy sky and nodded quickly "Last thing we need is some nosy reporters filming a spooky shadow man haunting a hotel all creepily and.. stuff."

A slightly nervous chuckle left her, and her tired, oddly distracted mind was unable to realize the moderately suggestive position she held herself in, her chest pushed forward, partially exposed through the gaps between the buttons in her shirt, unaware of the visible contour of her hard nipples, lacking her pants while the shirt barely covered her sensitive bits, the way she held her legs pressed tightly together, along with her obvious nervousness but desire for something both of them were unsure of yet, it all drew his attention in a particular manner.

Alyssa swallowed awkwardly and averted her gaze with the silence following her comment, the way he appeared to stare down at her made her uneasy, but when he cocked his head to the side at her curiously, she decided it was best if she left.

"I-I'm cold, talk to you later." was the first thing she came up with and blurted out before walking away without another word from either of them. It wasn't untrue, the air did feel chilly to her exposed skin, but it wasn't the reason why she left. She wasn't entirely sure herself why she left, why she felt nervous, and what exactly was it that she wanted, and she didn't want to think about it, especially after she slid the door closed behind her and eyed the bar in the back of the living room.

Feeling even less sleepy than before, she considered she could use some help to bring back her drowsiness, but as she approached the bar, she realized she wasn't even sure if alcohol would help her with that, since she rarely drank more than a glass of champagne during holiday parties.

 _Only one way to find out.._ Stepping behind the tall bar and in front of the shelves stacked full of various sealed bottles, again she considered that she didn't have a clue what she should drink, so, for too many seconds, her half-open eyes traveled across the shelves, until she grew tired of it, and closed them.

 _Screw it._ She reached around blindly and grabbed a bottle of brandy, which she took to the kitchen to clumsily unseal, and picked up a wine glass. On second thought and against her better judgement, she paused and decided to not bother using it, and instead took a careless swig directly from the bottle.

Instant regret followed her rash action when the alcohol concentration, too strong for her rookie taste, stung her tongue and she dropped the bottle on the kitchen table, spilling some before setting it upright, all while she choked and coughed, then leaned over the sink to drink water. While the bottle was fortunate enough to remain intact, the fragile wine glass that dropped from her hand had cracked on the table, then rolled off and shattered into tiny pieces on the floor.

 _God dammit…_ Once her taste buds had been calmed down, she put the cap back on the bottle with frustration and grabbed paper towels to clean the spillage, but didn't feel brave enough to start picking up sharp broken glass in her current state, so she left that clean-up for tomorrow. Her rational mind suggested to stop and simply go back to bed, but feeling oddly stubborn, she refused, and went back to the bar.

This time around, she opted out of a blind gamble, and instead looked through the bottles until she found a fancy bottle of something else with a chocolate flavor.

 _Chocolate, huh? Hopefully this means it won't taste like Satan's ass like that other one.._

Having learned from her mistake, she picked up another wine glass from the kitchen, which she held firmly, and poured herself a low amount of the drink. A small sip pleasantly surprised her, she could still taste alcohol moderately strong for her, but the chocolate made it more than bearable, almost delicious. Downing the glass, she picked up the bottle again to fill it, but paused briefly, then placed the glass down and left with the bottle.

Taking a swig from it, she walked back to the living room and glanced out into the terrace with unnecessary caution, squinting until she was able to distinguish that the Walrider was still near the railing, but facing away from her.

A soft sigh left her, and she turned away, back towards the TV, which again, she felt the temptation to turn on, but pushed it away, and only dropped her weight on the soft cream couch. The way she landed made her shirt slide up her hips too much, exposing her privates, and in response, she lazily pulled it back down and crossed her legs. Her solution didn't fix the problem entirely, and yet she couldn't find herself caring at all, Billy was asleep, and when she thought of the possibility of the Walrider seeing her, she quickly interrupted the visuals that came to her mind's eye.

She continued to take occasional swigs from the bottle in silence, despite the fact that she was well aware that she shouldn't be laying down and drinking, let alone alcohol from a bottle, before sunrise, half naked in the living room of a hotel penthouse she shared with two men, but again, she couldn't bring herself to care.

The thought crossed her mind of how her mother would react if she knew, which was followed by a chuckle, a chuckle that was more out of bitterness and irony than amusement. Alyssa never went through a teenage rebel phase, she never deeply concerned her parents, let alone for long periods of time, and yet here she was now, doing the stereotypical things that would worry and upset parents, being carelessly reckless, but unwillingly absent.

Several swigs later and after almost choking twice, she convinced herself to sit up, and was unsurprised when she noticed a feeling of lightheadedness rise with her. Much to her chagrin, however, she still didn't feel sleepy, only just as tired as before, and clumsily dragged her feet over to the glass door to the terrace. She didn't reach to open it, instead only rested her gaze on the Walrider's back, but when it traveled down his arm, a sudden idea struck her, mostly brought by the alcohol in her system, and with her rational mind inhibited by it, she didn't hesitate to open the door and put the idea in action.

"I have an idea!" Alyssa said rather loudly with a mild slur as she walked towards him.

When the Walrider turned to face her, he quickly noticed she was tipsy, but made no comment about it, only watched her approach him in a somewhat unstable gait, although he had to admit, he liked the way her hips swayed with every step.

"I have.. an idea." She repeated herself and took another swig from her bottle as she stopped in front of him, most of her discomfort and tension from earlier being absent.

The swarm crossed his arms with mild amusement at her condition and watched her expectantly, then spoke up when instead of sharing her thoughts, she took another swig from her bottle

"I am listening."

Alyssa cleared her throat and gathered her thoughts, which were somewhat scattered due to the alcohol getting to her head

"You know.. you know how in movies. Movies? Real life? Real life too, yeah, too. They like.. they _grab_ people" she gestured with her arms, careful not to spill her drink "From like, behind? And they, they pass out? I mean they, uh, they choke them, right? P.. pressure on the throat? The windpipe. Yeah.. it like, puts them to sleep, you know? I.." she paused to take another small swig "I gotta sleep, man, please, I've been trying for hours, nothing works, you gotta help me.."

The prayer hand gesture she made while holding the bottle between her hands as she pleaded amused him, and he decided to entertain her ludicrous idea for the moment.

After he took just one step towards her, however, Alyssa's resolve slightly faltered, but she encouraged herself, both mentally and with another small swig of her drink, then placed the bottle on the floor, and moved her hair away from her neck.

"Alright! Alright, let's do this, time to sleep, finally, let's go!" she said enthusiastically, more to convince herself to not change her mind, and turned around for him to grab and choke her to unconsciousness.

The Walrider stepped an inch behind her, while she stood slightly bent over and tense, getting considerably more nervous than she was willing to express. Instead of putting her in a choke hold, he placed his hands on both her shoulders and leaned down, resting some of his weight on her, which pushed her downwards, and spoke next to her ear before she could ask questions

"Do you want brain damage, foolish human?" despite his words, he sounded almost amused at the situation, which only puzzled her

"B-brain damage?! No, c'mon, that.. you can avoid that, right?" Alyssa said with obvious unease, and went to take a step forward, but was stopped by his hands shifting over to her neck, holding it just enough to keep her in place.

The sound of a deep, echoed exhale raised a few hairs on the back of her neck before he spoke "There is always risk." When his fingers slowly slid over the front of her throat, she felt herself freeze, and suddenly sober up considerably "Pressure on the windpipe, you say. Alyssa, I could crush your trachea between two fingers with no effort, it would take you minutes to suffocate to death."

Now he could clearly sense her fear, but before she could protest, he moved his thumbs over the sides of her neck and continued "Your carotid arteries, on the other hand.. Interrupting their flow to the brain will cause unconsciousness within seconds." To some surprise, he noticed her fear decrease rather quickly, recklessness which he blamed on the alcohol in her system "Interested, are we?"

A short chuckle left her "For the record, I'm not that drunk, okay? But.. just a few seconds and sleep? What's the worst that could happen?"

"As I said, always a risk, minor, but not insignificant."

With the rational part of her mind partially inhibited, it took Alyssa only a few moments of thought to come to a decision

"Heh, you know what? Screw it, just do it. I've been taking risks ever since I stepped in that damned asylum, why the hell not? Yeah yeah, drastic measures for a small problem, I know, but now, uh.. I wanna see what it's like, if I chicken out, just stop, alright?"

"Morbid curiosity?"

"Oh yeah.. And god, the horrid things I've seen online out of morbid curiosity, you wouldn't believe.." Alyssa said with a chuckle "Like, why does it even exi-"

Without waiting for her to finish, he swiftly grabbed her into a tight choke hold, strangling the arteries inside her neck shut. At first, Alyssa did her best to not panic over the initial rush, but only seconds later, despite the fact that she could still breathe, she could notice both her vision and consciousness beginning to fade with alarming speed. Immediately, she became entirely convinced of how bad her idea was, and felt grateful that she could speak

"Stop it, stop!" she said loudly and quickly, with clear fright in her voice.

In truth, the Walrider hadn't planned to hurt, nor knock her out, he was hoping she was going to do the very thing she did, freak out and give up, before he released her without her requesting it. As far as he was concerned, there was no doubt her idea was stupid and born out of alcohol-induced irrationality, but it was oddly entertaining to participate in her reckless antic, even though he had been intending to keep her safe.

Knowing every moment mattered, he immediately released his grip from her neck, but held her around the waist so she wouldn't fall over while she recovered.

With surprising speed, Alyssa's vision and consciousness fully came back to her, although she still felt somewhat dizzy. Her lingering panic took longer to dissipate, but her laughter helped to alleviate it

"That's gotta be one of the dumbest things I've ever done.." she said with negligible embarrassment while rubbing her neck

His grip on her waist tightened slightly, and he resisted the temptation to slide his hands upwards "Careful what you wish for?"

Another chuckle left Alyssa, and after feeling recovered enough, she walked towards the terrace table, pulled a chair and dropped her weight on it. She glanced towards the bottle she left on the floor, but after the idea it gave her and encouraged her to put into practice, she decided she needed a little break from it.

 _Okay, still awake, mission failed.._

Taking a deep breath and grateful that her dizziness had vanished, her gaze turned and landed on the nearby jacuzzi tub, and another lightbulb lit above her head, albeit followed by a feeling of foolishness.

 _Why.. why didn't I think of that before coming up with the brilliant idea of choking until I pass out?.._

With a small sigh out of some embarrassment and more amusement, she stood up and made her way to the bathroom, where she grabbed a large towel and brought it next to the Jacuzzi on the terrace.

The tub itself was more than half her height, lined with a layer of smooth vertical wooden boards, its margins made of thick polished white marble, wide enough to sit on. On one side, a control panel was embedded into the marble, while on the opposite side, a wide opening was designed to continuously flow water, and inside the opening, as well as on the bottom of the tub, there were inactive colored lights.

The control panel didn't seem overly complicated, although to Alyssa's less-than-lucid mind, it was rather intimidating. She slowly walked around the tub, until she noticed a small opening in its wall, where, much to her relief, she found an instruction manual.

Some distance away, the Walrider watched her from time to time, partly to make sure she wasn't going to do anything stupid and truly endanger herself.

After some slightly frustrating fumbling through the manual and buttons on the panel, she successfully managed to get the water to flow, and light green lights to turn on inside the tub. With a small silly celebration gesture to herself, she folded up the towel on the corner of the tub so it wouldn't get wet, and began unbuttoning her pajama shirt.

With some suspicion, she decided to very quickly turn to look at the Walrider, and at the last moment, just as she suspected, she managed to see him turning his head away from her. Biting her lip playfully, her eyes noticed the bottle she left on the floor near him, and decided to bring it over to the tub before getting in.

Uncaring that her shirt was half-open and chest partially exposed, she walked over to him and picked up the bottle before speaking

"Let's go shopping."

The seemingly completely random suggestion took the Walrider off guard, for a moment he considered their little stunt did indeed give her some brain damage, but he dismissed the thought, knowing from the nanites in her brain that her cells were healthy.

She continued when she saw him cock his head to the side questioningly "No, I'm serious. I'm honestly getting really bored here, there's only so much TV and the handful of video games they have here that I can occupy myself with every day." She paused briefly for a small exhale "I just wanna buy a laptop or phone to browse the internet. Nothing suspicious, nothing dangerous, not even any online accounts, just news, movies, internet, things that everyone and their grandma does online, you know? Just another random user among billions, won't attract an ounce of attention."

The Walrider watched her for a few seconds, it wasn't her suggestion that he found odd, it was her willingness to spend the money that she previously seemed so revolted by.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but he did so before her "You mustn't leave the safety of this apartment for such trivial business."

His words made her deflate further, her shoulders drooped, but the very serious tone in which he spoke discouraged her from protesting. She dragged her feet back to the Jacuzzi, placed the bottle on the side of the tub, and continued to clumsily unbutton her shirt. Making an effort to think with a clearer mind, she had to admit that he had a point, leaving the hotel more often than absolutely necessary could be unsafe, it didn't seem that unsafe to her, but she managed to accept it was better safe than sorry.

Placing a hand in the water, she made sure the temperature was fitting, a relaxing and comfortable degree between warm and hot. Not caring that she would be in the nude, she dropped her shirt on the floor and climbed inside, a small moan leaving her as she soaked herself in the water up to her neck.

She took a minute to relax, then the wide, lit-up opening on the other side of the tub drew her attention. Navigating to the control panel, she pressed a few buttons, until water began flowing from the opening in a wide, thin and smooth stream.

With a small smile, she moved over underneath the flowing water, the hot stream washing down her shoulders drawing a long sigh of content out of her. A few deeply relaxing seconds later, she noticed her mouth felt slightly dry, and convinced herself to move away from the flow just to grab the bottle in the corner and return under the stream. She only took a swig of her chocolatey alcohol, then placed the bottle on the small ledge of the tub and closed her eyes.

It wasn't long until another thought struck her, she remembered the way she saw Jacuzzi tubs bubble and shoot water and air for massaging purposes, and as tired and relaxed as she was, she couldn't resist the temptation to see if this one had those types of functionalities as well.

With the speed of a snail, she dried her hands on the towel then searched through the instruction manual until she found what she was looking for. Buttoning the control panel again, she managed to activate the jets on the bottom and sides of the tub, the water and air flowing underneath making the surface slightly bubble and move.

When she leaned back down, she contained a small moan upon feeling the soft jets hit her legs and back, the water was relaxing enough before, but now she could hardly believe how soothing it was.

 _Maybe you should've thought of this before getting choked out.. idiot.._

She thought with a small smirk and closed her tired eyes. Despite the warmth of the water, the air outside was still rather too chilly for her nude wet skin, and she decided to soak her exposed shoulders in as well. She slid down into the water slowly, even though it was shallow, she preferred not to slip and get her head wet as well, but a few inches lower, one of the jets hit her exposed, already somewhat sensitive clit, making her jump.

Her eyes shot open, her gaze quickly turned to the Walrider, and the thinning layer of clouds above allowed enough moonlight for her to easily see that he was facing away from her.

She sighed softly in relief, but it wasn't long until it clicked in her mind that she found a solution to her previous problem of tired hands. With unnecessary caution, she lowered herself deep in the water again, and when the jet hit her sensitive spots again, she bit her lip to stay quiet and remained in place.

A small smirk stretched on her lips, not at the pleasurable sensation, but at the strange way it made her feel to do this while the Walrider was so close, seemingly without a clue of her actions, she felt almost mischievous.

As convenient and pleasant as it was to sit while the pressure did her job for her, she couldn't help remembering how nice it felt to be filled to the brim by the Walrider's cock and fucked viciously, the mere memory rose a wave of heat to her cheeks, and she took another swig of her drink, suddenly wishing it was cold instead of room temperature.

In an effort to make herself climax faster, she began rocking her hips back and forth under the jet, which somewhat helped, and to speed the process further in the hopes that an orgasm would help her finally fall asleep, she allowed herself to fantasize about that particular night in the nearby bedroom. Recalling the images and sensations made her forget how tired her body, including her hand, was, and she rather easily inserted one finger inside her relaxed and slippery entrance.

The feeling of moving it in and out herself while her thumb rubbed her clit and the jet assisted her, coupled with the memories of that night, were more than enough to make her momentarily forget where she was, and that she was supposed to be quiet

"Yes, right there, fuck me, you.." she whispered barely audibly to herself without really realizing it between increasingly heavy breaths, the white noise coming from the city below not enough to mask her voice from senses keener than a human's.

Even if her eyes weren't closed, in the low light and her distracted state, she wouldn't have noticed the Walrider move regardless. Lost in her pleasure, trying to build up her climax, she didn't expect the sudden voice right next to her

"Did you say something?"

Instantly, her eyes shot open and she splashed water everywhere in her attempt to immediately stop and hide what she had been doing. When she looked up, she felt her cheeks overheating upon seeing the Walrider sitting on the edge of the tub, right next to her, his legs in the water from the knees down, looking at her. Even in her inebriated state she could tell there was no way he didn't know what she had been doing, but she spoke up anyway

"O-oh hey! No, no, I don't- I didn't say anything, why, did I say anything? I don't remember, I didn't say anything." she chuckled nervously, and continued when she received no response "Uh, nice of you to join me, how's it going?"

In an effort to play off her actions and nervousness, she made herself yawn and stretch even though she didn't feel the need to, but when she looked up after getting no answer again, she noticed he wasn't looking at her anymore, his gaze was aimed vaguely towards the water, and his serious tone slightly took her off guard

"You suggested spending the money from the lawyer. Yet you seemed repulsed by it not long ago."

Alyssa blinked and used some water to rub her eyes, his question bringing back some lucidity into her mind. She took a few moments to consider his words, but soon gave up on complicated explanations and realized the plain version of the truth was easier, and shook her head lightly

"Honestly, I just don't know how to feel anymore, my friend.." she reached for her bottle and took a small sip of her chocolate drink "I have.. never been through such an emotional wreck like in the past couple weeks.. and never felt more conflicted than in the past few days.."

Her referring to him as her friend made him raise an eyebrow, he wondered if it was the alcohol speaking, or if she didn't mean it literally

"Do you typically ask your friends to choke you to unconsciousness, human?" he asked more lightheartedly, drawing a small chuckle out of her

"Nah, my other friends are pretty damn boring, they would've never entertained my idea.."

Feeling the chilly air on her wet arm and shoulders, she sunk herself back into the water up to her neck, then rose one leg in the air, before playfully submerging it back with a splash.

"I've been thinking about your.. visit, to that dear Murkoff lawyer.." Alyssa said with a slight slur and another sip from the bottle "I mean.. I know you can make yourself look human as long as no skin's showing, but.. what if they _do_ suspect that it was you? It's not.. impossible, you know? They're pretty clever bastards, after all.."

"Highly unlikely." he responded almost immediately, raising Alyssa's eyebrow

"You sound awfully sure of that.. how?"

"Do you suspect a wolf of calculated murder, Alyssa?"

Again, his answer was quick, drawing a small puzzled frown on her face

"Wh.. wait, do you mean that's really what they thought you were like?"

"Basically. They thought me little more than a highly volatile killing machine to be caged and studied, in their hopes of mastering nanotechnology." He paused briefly, and Alyssa could've sworn his next words were spoken with a smirk "Granted, my reputation was not undeserved." She watched from the corner of her eyes how his gloved hand clenched into a fist "I have lost count of how many I have killed throughout their covert institutions of organized torture in the name of science and profit."

His words sobered her up more than she was comfortable with, the reality of what she'd witnessed in the asylum being conducted for years in secret was painful to hear about again, and at the same time, she preferred not to be reminded of his homicidal tendencies.

She bit her lip thoughtfully, considering if she should even address the subject, until she made up her mind, and against her better judgement, spoke almost in a whisper

"They had families, like me.."

Immediately, the Walrider shot back, his harsh tone making her uncomfortable

"Then perhaps they should have considered their families and their choice of career better before willingly participating in organized torture for an extra fat paycheck."

Only after noticing Alyssa shrinking back did he realize how hostile he sounded, as well as the way her comment bothered him. It seemed innocent enough, but he could pick up her judgement from it, and stranger yet, he was unsure why it even bothered him in the first place.

Somewhat hesitantly, he slowly reached a hand towards her to move a few strands of hair away from her face, then slid his hand lower and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Alyssa?" he whispered in a softer tone, but she shook her head and looked back at him, then grabbed her bottle to take a sip of her drink before speaking

"No, you have a point. I don't want to toss any judgements around, but.. death? It just seems.. too punishing."

The Walrider remained quiet for a few moments, he leaned down, resting his hands on his knees, and watched the surface of the water gently bubbling and swirling with the flow coming from the jets underneath, then finally spoke in a similar, softer voice

"What did you want me to do, human? Sit quietly and obey? Torture them in return? No.. death was not too punishing. What was too punishing, was their imprisonment of me for sins I never committed. They didn't keep my freedom away from me because I killed them.. I killed them because they kept my freedom away from me."

His words rose a sense of discomfort in Alyssa again, but this time it was due to the fact that she was hearing some harsh truths. She swallowed, unsure what to say, and only listened as he continued

"I wish they could have killed me. I don't believe they would have killed me even if they were capable of it, there was too much money to be made off of Project Walrider. Regardless of how many I killed, the value of human lives paled in comparison to the potential profit, otherwise, they would have discontinued the Project a long time ago. No, they imprisoned me instead.."

A long, pained sigh left Alyssa, but before she managed to come up with an appropriate reply, he spoke up again

"Do you know why throughout history, the most common punishment for criminals is imprisonment?"

His question was rather unexpected to her, she glanced at him and gave him a puzzled look to continue

"Not only because it is considered a more humane punishment, but because taking away freedom is the most effective punishment. If a man wrongs you, you can beat him, but his wounds will only heal in time, you can torture him, but his pain will only fade in time, you can kill him, but you will only set him free of this particular life. Lock him in a cage, however, and time will no longer be on his side. Freedom is the most valuable possession a soul has, take it away, and time will rot the soul…"

Alyssa found it strange that upon listening to his monologue her first instinct was to hug him, although for a brief moment, the more paranoid side of her mind suggested that perhaps he could be trying to manipulate her, but she dismissed the thought, knowing he had no reason to, and even more so, his words oddly resonated with her.

"I'm sorry.." she whispered barely audibly after a soft gloomy sigh, her apology seeming entirely unrelated and unnecessary as far as he could tell

"What are you talking-"

"I had regrets." She quickly interrupted, pushing herself to speak "Before, in my darkest moments.. I kept going back and forth on whether or not I regret ever going to the asylum. Sometimes I wished I could turn back time and never go anywhere near it.. But if I didn't, then you would still be trapped there. Waylon would've still made it out with his evidence, but I don't know how much that would've eventually helped you, since Murkoff were preparing to clean up the place after that massive security breach.. I know those people want to kill me now, but.. I don't regret going to that hellhole."

During the short quiet pause, she took a small swig of her drink, then heard a deep, raspy exhale from the entity next to her, and slightly flinched when she felt his hand gently pat her head

"You're not to blame, human."

His soft tone along with the relaxing hand through her hair made her scoot closer in the water and rest her head against his leg. Through tired, half-opened eyes, she began noticing a tint of orange in the sky from the east, before she allowed her lids to close, and considered that perhaps she should go to bed and try to sleep before the sun fully rose, despite the fact that her arousal was still just in the back of her mind, since she was interrupted from finishing her business.

"Now.." the Walrider's voice drew her attention, making her half-raise one heavy eyelid, only for her eyes to immediately shoot open as soon as she heard his next words "What did I tell you about touching yourself without my permission?"


	37. Chapter 37

With a splash, she frantically put some distance between them, and although she could feel some of her embarrassment, she was too intoxicated to hide her smirk

"I don't know what you're talking about.." she held back a giggle and covered her chest with her arms, she dared to look at him even though her cheeks were warming up, until he spoke again in a pretend-strict tone

"And what did I tell you about lying to me?"

This time, Alyssa raised her arms playfully in defeat and let her giggle out, before reaching for the bottle on the edge of the tub and taking a larger gulp from it, the alcohol further fogging her mind

"Fine, fine.. Guilty. Hey, I told you I've been trying to sleep for hours with no luck, and sometimes there are.. tricks that can help me fall asleep."

The smirk from her lips hadn't faded, and she made her way back close to him through the shallow water, positioning herself between his legs, her elbows resting on his knees. He found her choice of location odd but interesting, and he waited to see if she was intending to do anything, until she raised the bottle to her lips, then whined playfully when he suddenly grabbed it from her hands and spoke with some amusement

"Do you not think you're drunk enough by now?"

With her cheeks rosy for multiple reasons, she laughed and shook her head "I'm not.. I'm not that drunk, alright."

Not believing a word she said, the Walrider checked the label on the bottle, and found out the drink had a surprisingly low concentration of alcohol, yet she must've drunk so much that it eventually got to her head, especially if she wasn't used to alcoholic beverages. He placed the bottle by his side, not out of her reach, then looked down only to see Alyssa resting her head on his thigh, while she used two fingers to 'walk' up on his other.

"Buuut since you're here.." she looked up at him through half-open eyes, the smirk on her lips still present "Maybe you could help me.." her hand slowly reached under his jacket, in search for the zipper of his pants "Really, I'm not that drunk, but even if I was sober, I'd still want you inside me." She couldn't contain an intoxicated giggle that she made an effort to settle down and continue "I just wouldn't have the guts to tell ya."

As much as he enjoyed the direction things were heading in, the Walrider decided to toy with her a little first. It wasn't long until he began noticing her slight frustration at her inability to find the zipper of his pants as she used both hands in her search, her inebriated mind forgetting that his clothes didn't require the usual parts to make them wearable, since they were made of nanites.

Muttering some cusses under her breath with half-serious annoyance, Alyssa's efforts were interrupted by his deep gravelly chuckle at her struggle, and she weakly hit her fist against his thigh in frustration

"This isn't funny!" she protested, despite being unable to contain her own laughter

"Are you looking for something, human?" the Walrider asked teasingly

"Yes! And don't ask, you know damn well what it is!" grabbing his crotch only made her more eager, since she could feel something under the material, but could not find a way to unzip his pants for the life of her

"I truly have no clue, enlighten me." His mocking tone only added to her playful frustration, she bit her lip and pushed herself to speak while avoiding looking up at him

"I'm looking.. for your fat ghost cock.." a partially shy, partially amused giggle left her, and he quickly followed her hesitant answer with another question

"And what business might you have with that?"

This time, the embarrassment was too palpable even for her intoxicated mind, while the smirk was still on her lips, she averted her gaze by resting her face against his thigh.

To get her attention, the Walrider picked up the bottle of chocolatey alcohol and shook it slightly, the sound of the liquid rather easily doing the job.

Alyssa expected him to tease her by moving the bottle away when she reached for it, but to her surprise, he allowed her to grab it and take a gulp from it. Feeling like she needed more liquid encouragement, she tried to swallow too much, causing herself to briefly choke and cough, then sloppily wiped the corner of her mouth where a drop of the drink was sliding down to her chin.

A playful whine left her when he took the bottle from her hand and pushed it to the far corner of the tub, she tried to make her way to it, but he quickly wrapped one arm around her neck, pulling her halfway out of the water, and keeping her head tight against his chest, the position forcing her to look up at him

"Now.. You know how I feel about repeating questions." He said teasingly with a smirk, whose outline she could partially see through his mask

Even though she was aware of what she was about to say and how embarrassed she should feel, the alcohol had convinced her to say it without much difficulty

"I need it.. to fuck my hole.." Alyssa whispered, her cheeks hot as she had to look up at him between her lashes and her mouth slightly open.

The temperature in her face rose even higher when she noticed his smirk grow wider upon hearing her answer, but she didn't have time to react, as in the next moment, he pulled her out of the water further, grabbed the hair on the back of her head and roughly crashed her lips against his.

Almost instinctively, she deepened the kiss, her moan muffled as her fingers grasped the back of his jacket. Despite the fact that the outside air was still chilly to her wet exposed skin, she could hardly notice the change in temperature due to her aroused and intoxicated state, even less so as his gloved hand on her back pulled her tightly close to him, then slowly traveled down.

When she felt his smooth tongue lick her bottom lip, she didn't hesitate to open her mouth and massage her own tongue against his. Another playful moan was muffled when his hand slid from her hair, down towards her chest and squeezed her breast, while with his other hand, he parted her legs enough to pull her onto his lap.

Deciding to begin indulging her, he took her hand and moved it to the front of his jacket, where her fingers found the head of a zipper, which, without a moment wasted, she grabbed and pulled all the way down, parting his jacket. Normally, there would be nothing underneath, since it would be an unnecessary use of nanites; for his disguise, he only needed an exterior layer to fool the observer, but for this occasion, he formed his body underneath the layer of clothes.

Alyssa's hand eagerly slid down the silky smooth yet firm surface of his sculpted chest and abdomen, then attempted to sneak into his pants, only to be hit with a wave of frustration when she couldn't slip her fingers between his skin and the nanite fabric of his pants. Worse yet, he moved her hand lower to his crotch, where she could feel the thick rigid shape of his shaft, just beneath the surface, over which she ran her nails down with playful annoyance, before pulling her lips away and looking down at what she desperately needed

"Stop.." she spoke with difficulty between heavy breaths "being so cruel.."

Her words, combined with the needy look on her face when she looked back up evoked a deep chuckle from him, he pulled her back closer, biting her neck lightly then tracing his tongue on the spot and below. Without warning, he took her hand in his again, moved it to the closed slit of his pants, where much to Alyssa's delight, her fingers found another zipper, which she also quickly pulled down.

Released from its prison, his cock sprang out, lightly smacking against her clit, the sudden contact on her sensitive bit making her moan sharply. Besides her moan, she had no time for another reaction, as his hands gripped her hips and began positioning her entrance over his tip. When she felt him pushing against her nether lips, a rush of excited anticipation flooded her at the realization that she was about to feel that blissful sensation of being stretched and filled to the brim, but even in her condition, she managed to remember something she had been planning to do before he grabbed her.

"Wait!.. wait, wait." She said hurriedly and lightly pushed against his shoulders.

Her sudden request puzzled him, since she seemed so eager just seconds ago, and physically she was more than ready, but he decided to comply. As soon as he released her hips, she backed off his lap and briefly sunk herself into the water up to her neck in order to warm herself up, then rose back up just enough to place her arms on his thighs.

Despite her desire to be stuffed, she couldn't give up on her previous intention, and the Walrider watched her with some curiosity as she placed one hand on his cock, leaned in close and ran her tongue up his shaft from the base, leaving a slick trail of saliva in her wake. When she reached the top, she opened her mouth wider to fit the tip inside, on which she playfully sucked like a lollipop.

As much as the view between his legs aroused him, he felt the need to state the obvious, although he did place his hand on the back of her head through her hair

"Charming sight, but you do realize this does nothing for either of us."

She could tell the smirk on his lips as he spoke, and she slowly moved her lips away as she sucked, releasing his tip from her mouth with a pop sound, followed by her giggle as she briefly looked up at him, her rosy face showing considerably more arousal than embarrassment

"Speak for yourself, I'm enjoying myself.." she chuckled again then leaned back down, slightly bending his shaft and planting wet kisses on its side, from the base upwards. Taking the head past her lips when she reached it again, she filled her mouth with his cock, but there still seemed to be so much of it outside, it wasn't satisfying, so she attempted to take it in further. Much to her chagrin, however, she quickly noticed her gag reflex was kicking in, it forced her to stop, not without a muffled moan of discontent at herself.

Just before she intended to share her problem, her eyes widened as she recalled something else, and she sloppily removed his shaft from her mouth

"Hey, wait a second, I was gonna.." speaking with a slight slur, she licked some saliva from her lip "I was gonna ask.." she placed both hands on his cock and began slowly massaging up and down "The people.. the scientists.. at the asylum, didn't you.. like, talk to them? Like you talk to us or anythin'?.. So, uh, they'd know why you were pissed off at them and maybe like, make peace?"

To the Walrider, her naive suggestion of peace and the seemingly innocent look on her face as she pumped his cock with both hands and mouth half-open while she blinked up at him expectantly was rather lewdly endearing.

"Oh, I have spoken to them before.." his hand played with some strands of her hair "Individually, when no one else was near." Alyssa removed one hand and ran her tongue up his shaft over a thick vein, she didn't think there was any real purpose for the veins, but she certainly enjoyed the way their shape felt to her tongue "They reported my communication to their colleagues.." now, she could hear the smirk on his lips as he spoke "Who concluded their alleged ability to hear my voice was a strong sign that they were adequate candidates for Project Walrider, so they strapped them down and subjected them to the same torment they themselves had been subjecting patients just before."

Alyssa's eyes widened, his words were somewhat sobering, and his deep chuckle that followed brought more lucidity to her mind. A slight frown set on her face, she began moving away from his crotch, until his hand suddenly tightened in her hair, pulling her back close and cramming his cock back into her mouth as far as it would go without triggering her gag reflex.

A muffled moan of protest left her, and she playfully hit her fist over his thigh as he held her firmly in place. Even in her inebriated state, she couldn't help feeling a little bad for the fate of the scientists that he tried speaking to, and while his amusement at it slightly unsettled her, she could somewhat understand his sentiment, in a way, their fate was like some sort of ironic karmic justice.

After she seemed to relax, he released his grip from her hair, placing both hands on the sides of her head and pulling her away with a few strands of saliva stretching between her lips and his cock, which she leaned back in and licked away as soon as he removed his hands.

"Hm, and here I thought you were going to need some more liquid encouragement to continue after what I said."

A small smirk grew on her lips as she shook her head "Nah.. Fuck 'em.. I-I shouldn't have asked in the first place, but I don't wanna ruin my mood right now.."

She barely finished speaking the last word before she hungrily placed his tip in her mouth again, she briefly sucked on it, until she attempted to take his shaft deeper, only to frown when she encountered the same issue of gag reflex as before.

Sloppily removing the cock from her mouth, now more than a little wet with her saliva, she gave him a coy look as her eyes shifted between up at him and down at his crotch

"I.." she couldn't continue without an embarrassed chuckle "I'm having a bit of an issue here, if you can't tell.." she wet her hand in the water below and ran it down her face to refresh herself and wash away the saliva on her lips, further messing up her black eyeliner in the process "Could you like.. give me something a tad smaller to work with?"

The smirk on her lips widened after asking her question, which she noticed mirror his own behind the mask, but before she could react, he suddenly placed his hand on the back of her head, and again, pulled her close, forcing his cock into her mouth as deep as she could take it.

"No." was all he said in his low gravelly voice, yet with noticeable amusement at what he was doing to her.

Despite his rather harsh actions, Alyssa was surprised at how aroused she was, and she couldn't help but reach one hand under the water to play with herself as she eagerly sucked on his shaft, taking it as deep as she could, still somewhat frustrated that she couldn't take it further, but too aroused to care as much.

Rubbing her clit hadn't satisfied her for long, she couldn't ignore the feeling of aching emptiness in her pussy, and when she inserted a finger, she realized how slippery she was on the inside, slippery enough that she added another one with moderate ease and began thrusting shallowly. Filling some of the emptiness inside her granted her some relief, but not much, seeing as her fingers were both too thin, and, due to the position she was stuck in, she couldn't reach too deep either.

When she recalled the time his cock pounded the bottom of her pussy, providing that deep stimulation she previously had no idea how much she loved, she felt her insides throb and clench around her fingers, and she moaned onto his cock, although the sound came out partially muffled.

While she busied herself, however, the Walrider had to make an effort to continue suppressing the urge that had been steadily growing for the past several minutes, the urge to bend her over the edge of the tub and pound her until she came, regardless of all her protests and pleas to allow her time to play with him at her own leisure.

Since she was still more than a little tipsy and busy at both ends, it took Alyssa some time to become fully aware of the sensation of another hand traveling down her back, fondling her rear and briefly rubbing against her clit. At first, she believed it was either just her imagination or that she was much more drunk than she thought, but as it kept happening, she occasionally removed his cock from her mouth to have a closer look behind, only to see nothing.

Due to the low light and the very thin layer of nanites the disembodied hand was composed of, it was virtually impossible for her to see it with the naked eye, especially under the surface of the water, and once she grew tired of playing hide and seek with invisible fingers, she removed her own fingers from inside herself and spoke up

"There's.." she picked up some water from the tub and rubbed it down her face again, bringing some lucidity to her mind drunk both with alcohol and arousal "There's another ghost here, groping me.. Could you.. would you kindly tell him to piss off? I only want your stuff stuffed inside me, thanks.."

The Walrider turned her head back at him and guided her mouth onto his cock "No other ghost, only me." She took his shaft past her lips with no protest, until she suddenly felt the hand between her legs again, much more clearly and solid this time.

She wanted to turn around and verify it with her own eyes, but as soon as she began turning her head, his hands gripped on her hair tightly, pushing her down and shoving his cock so deep that it threatened to trigger her gag reflex, and the other hand between her legs inserted one thick finger inside her slippery entrance and began rubbing her clit in a circle with the thumb as it thrusted deeper than her own fingers could reach.

With a muffled moan of both protest and pleasure, she attempted to move away, only for his grip on her to tighten into a vice, preventing any retreat and forcing her to keep his cock buried in her mouth.

Feeling a sense of playful frustration rising, she grasped his sleeves with both hands and pulled as hard as she could, but her effort soon proved fruitless. Tired yet too stubborn to give up, she gripped onto his pants this time and tried to push herself away with all her might, which, in her near physically exhausted state, wasn't much anyway. Unsurprisingly, she made no progress, worse yet, her eyes widened when he took both her wrists in one hand, held them for a few moments, and even though he then released her, she felt her wrists bound behind her back with a chain quickly fashioned out of nanites.

Alyssa let out a louder muffled whine and shook her head, and to her relief, he pulled her back, taking his cock out of her mouth, letting her head rest next to it on his thigh. As soon as her mouth was empty, she spoke up loudly, between heavy breaths, growing more distracted by the thick finger thrusting inside her

"Cheater!"

Her protest amused him, even more so as it was immediately followed by a loud sharp moan when, without warning, the hand between her legs inserted another girthy finger inside her, and increased the pace of both its thrusting and rubbing her sensitive clit.

He didn't feel it was necessary to remind her that he needed to place considerably more nanites inside her brain in order for him to feel the drug-like high of the dopamine released upon her climax, so he did it without informing her, and, as expected, she was far too distracted to feel the tingling on the sides of her head.

It wasn't long until she began sensing her orgasm approaching with alarming speed, her mouth dropped open as her hips rocked back and forth with each thrust, drawing a steady wavy pattern in the water, yet oddly enough, she began shaking her head, a gesture which at first, puzzled him

"O-oh no.. no, no, no.." Alyssa struggled to speak between shallowing fast breaths, in vain attempting to slip her wrists out of the chains around them "Oh god, no, I'm gonna.. I'm gonna come.. Stop, stop quickly!.."

From the angle she was stuck in, she couldn't look up at him, but he looked down at her curiously

"Yes, my dear, that is the whole point, or are you so far gone you have even forgotten that?" he reached down and played with her half-wet hair, pleased with her inability to do anything even if she truly wanted to.

Alyssa shook her head again "No, dammit, not like this!" she bit her lip tightly after another moan escaped her "I want you.. I need you inside me.." she made a weak attempt to raise herself upright, but her exhausted body combined with the overwhelming feeling of her imminent orgasm easily halted her effort.

After another whine of discontent, she realized it was too late for her to try anything else, knowing she was about to come any second, and settled for resting her head on his thigh as she helplessly waited for her orgasm.

Just as she felt herself beginning to clench around the fingers inside her, the thrusting suddenly slowed significantly, and the thumb moved away from her clit, keeping her climax at bay and allowing her breath to slow. A sigh of frustration left her, then the possibility crossed her mind that he might be considering her request, especially when he spoke

"Is that really so?.." he sounded almost bored, although she highly suspected he was pretending just to tease her, but she nodded enthusiastically anyway

"Yes! Yes please.. Please, please, I need you to stretch and fill me." Overly stimulated and interrupted from her orgasm more than once in the past hour, she couldn't bring herself to feel any shame over her words, and she shook her hips suggestively while the fingers inside her continued to thrust teasingly slowly.

In response, she received a deep, gravelly, seemingly thoughtful rumble "Well…" that one word sparked her attention, only to be hit by a wave of disappointment once he continued "We can't all have what we need, now, can we."

The whine she intended to express was quickly replaced by a moan, when, without warning, the fingers in her pussy began thrusting rapidly again, and the thumb resumed rubbing her sensitive bud. This time, she accepted that he wasn't going to comply with her wishes, and relaxed as best she could as she leaned her head against his thigh.

When she sensed her orgasm quickly approaching, her arousal compelled her to take advantage of how close she was to his cock. Between moans and mewls, she licked and sucked on the side of the shaft, until she felt herself seconds from finishing. Just as she allowed herself to relish in the feeling of the incoming rush of pleasure, her eyes opened widely when the Walrider suddenly raised her head just enough to make her take his cock deep in her mouth again, quickly silencing her surprise and preventing any attempt to move away by holding her tightly in place.

His gesture, along with the deep raspy chuckle she heard from him while the thick fingers continued to thrust inside her brought her orgasm to her almost immediately, the blissful surge of ecstasy flooded her brain and began spreading through her body, warming her up all the way to her fingertips, while the muscles in her legs cramped tightly. She wasn't sure why, but she very much enjoyed the way his cock in her mouth heavily muffled her continuous moans and mewls while she was unable to free herself, almost as much as she enjoyed the gravelly groan from him above her, his grip tightening on her as the dopamine in her brain provided a drug-like high for him, although he remained composed enough to not accidentally squeeze her too hard and hurt her.

Slowly, the hand inside her stopped stimulating her now overly-sensitive bits, then dissipated, along with the chain that held her wrists together, allowing her arms to slide off her back, into the water with a small splash. Still recovering from her climax and with the cramps in her leg muscles still lingering, she was glad that he helped her get up; her heavy breath was allowed to flow and help her recover once her mouth was no longer obstructed by his cock, and he pulled her out of the water more to sit on his leg, although he had to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her exhausted body upright.

A solid minute later, she was still exhausted and in need of sleep, however, she at least felt recovered enough to walk over to the bedroom, so she made an attempt to get up, only for his arm to slightly tighten around her waist. Through half-open eyes, she gave him a puzzled look, she opened her mouth to voice her need to go to bed and sleep, but instead let out a small squeal of surprise when without warning, he slid them both into the water up to her chest.

The feeling of the still warm water was pleasant enough to make her further relax and long for a soft bed, so again, she made an attempt to express it

"Wally, I gotta.. I gotta sleep.. I need to get up and go to bed.." she spoke under her breath, she had trouble keeping her eyes open, but his answer helped her open them quite a bit

"No…" a weak frown of confusion set on her face, which deepened as he began parting her legs then sat her back on his lap. Once she noticed him position her higher and felt his tip pushing at her entrance, however, her puzzled expression was replaced by disbelief, a quick exhale left her as she felt a hint of panic, she made an attempt to back away, but his hand on the back of her hip prevented her from retreating, and his next words made her regret her own from minutes ago "What you need is me inside you."

Before she could protest, he pushed her hips down while giving a small upwards thrust with his own, impaling her on his cock as deeply as it would fit. As he expected, a mix of a loud painful whine and pleasured moan left her, her fading arousal had made her more shallow and tight, however, the lingering wetness both inside her and from her saliva on his shaft allowed for a relatively smooth entrance.

As they leaned back, he wrapped one arm around her upper back to comfortably press her against him and keep her higher, raising her off his cock a few inches, making room for himself to thrust, which, to Alyssa, was a mix of pleasure from his head massaging the bottom of her pussy with light bumps, and also a slight stinging sensation from being forcefully and suddenly stretched and stuffed.

With difficulty, she managed to drag her hands onto his chest as her head rested on his shoulder, his pace was slow and steady at first, and despite the feeling of discomfort from being rather roughly penetrated when she wasn't ready, it wasn't long until her arousal began slowly but surely coming back. With its return, she felt her internal muscles starting to relax, and the deep gravelly rumble of content she heard and felt from his chest further helped put her at ease, in her drunken, barely-awake state, it almost sounded like the purring of a big cat to her.

When his pace increased, she hissed with some pain, her fingers weakly grabbed onto the sides of his jacket, however, she did enjoy the sensation of the veins along his shaft tightly rubbing her insides, as well as the feeling of her breasts and hardening nipples against his firm, smooth chest. Further relaxing was the fact that the increased movement of his hips caused the surface of the water to move more, swaying back and forth, sending steady waves of warm water up her back.

Sooner than she expected, she found her nether muscles easing up as the growing arousal and friction brought more slickness inside herself, allowing his cock to slide deeper and faster painlessly. Despite her still present physical exhaustion, some of her sleepiness vanished, she made an effort to raise herself off his shoulder and pulled him in for a sloppy wet kiss while his hand traveled down her back and groped her ass, tighter than she expected, drawing a small muffled squeal out of her.

Beginning to lose herself in the growing pleasure, she hadn't even realized that she had begun moving her own hips up and down, bouncing herself on his cock, although the water made it more difficult for her to maintain her pace. Her hand reached down between her legs and briefly rubbed her clit, but it wasn't long until she realized she was too tired to keep that up, so she moved it away, instead sliding it up along the smooth bumps of his muscles, pausing at his neck.

Pulling her lips away from his to take some deep breaths, she curiously slipped a finger underneath the edge of his mask and began moving it up, until his hand stopped her by gently grabbing her wrist

"There is nothing there." He said as he placed her hand back on his chest, but Alyssa only smirked and grasped the edge of his mask again.

This time, he didn't bother stopping her, expecting her frightened reaction to amuse him once she satisfied her curiosity. With some clumsiness due to the continuing deep thrusts inside her distracting her in multiple ways, she pulled his mask upwards, above where his nose appeared to be, only to be met with the same grey skull that he showed to Paul in the car.

Alyssa's mouth dropped slightly open, she blinked at him a few times, seemingly taken off guard; she raised his sunglasses above his eyes, and then placed them back after seeing grey empty eye sockets. To his surprise, her rather neutral expression turned into a wider smirk, and she leaned close to whisper

"So.. I'm being fucked by a skeleton.."

Even in her state, drunk with alcohol and arousal, he didn't expect her to react like this, even less so when she whispered again, after a moan escaped her lips "Hot.."

Her giggle followed her amused statement, and again, he didn't anticipate it when she leaned closer and ran her tongue along the bare teeth of his skull, her action even making his pace slow and jaw slightly drop.

Taking advantage of that, Alyssa slipped her tongue into his mouth, and once his came to meet hers, she again surprised him when she let him push it back and slide them both into her own mouth, only to begin sucking on his tongue like she had been sucking on his cock, while massaging its tip with her tongue.

The sudden growl she heard from him made her briefly pause, her heart began pumping a hint faster, until she realized he was only more aroused, fact proven further when he tightly gripped her hips with both hands and significantly increased his thrusting pace, drawing a muffled mewl out of her.

Soon realizing that the water was inhibiting his movement too much, and considering the state of his own arousal, he decided it was time for a position that allowed for freer motion. He pushed her mouth away from his, placed his mask back down, and ignoring her whine of protest that came with the feeling of emptiness after he pulled his cock out of her, he turned her around to sit on the edge of the tub. Tossing a glance behind, her intoxicated mind perceived the height from where she sat down to the floor to be greater than it actually was, and without really thinking, she turned herself so she held one leg in the tub, while the other hung above the floor and grasped onto the edge of the tub with her hand.

The Walrider didn't bother adjusting her position, since seeing her legs spread and exposed pussy was more than enough for him, so he only grabbed her leg that was hanging above the floor and placed it over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't going to slip and fall, as well as to make room for himself, then guided his slick cock to push against her nether lips. A mewl of contentment and anticipation left Alyssa, followed by a louder moan when he suddenly gave her sensitive clit a light smack with his shaft before positioning the tip back at her entrance, the sight of which grew a lewd smirk on her needy expression.

The thought to tease her and make her beg crossed his mind, but he took into consideration how exhausted she was, and also how aroused he was, and hesitantly decided against it. Without warning, he plunged his cock into her as deep as it would go, drawing a louder moan out of her, and began a fast pace, pounding the sweet spot in her core with each thrust. The sudden flow of pleasure and the rather rough way he caused her body to rock back and forth made her grip on the edge of the tub loosen fairly fast, so she used her other hand to grip onto the edge of his jacket and hold herself up while she released her loosening grip on the tub and grasped onto his sleeve, until he placed his other arm around the small of her back, making her feel more steady and less like she was about to slip off.

A string of muttered cusses left her as the pleasure continued to escalate inside her, her jaw dropped and she didn't bother suppressing her moans and mewls, realizing there was no music to mask them this time, but finding herself unable to care, and she doubted she could do a good job containing herself even if she tried to.

Her hand felt warmer than usual, especially for the outside temperature, but when she placed it over her cheeks, she could still tell they were even warmer, her whole body felt overheated, although not as hot as the friction inside her pussy as he pounded it with abandon.

Feeling her orgasm hastily approaching, she glanced down between her legs, only to accelerate the arrival of her climax upon seeing the oddly extremely satisfying display of his cock disappearing inside her and reappearing with speed, its surface coated and slick with her juices. It was more than enough to make her notice the tightening and throbbing of her internal muscles, and then a sudden idea struck her, which by itself, threatened to drive her over the edge, but she made an effort to contain herself

"I need you to.. I.. please" she struggled to speak between increasingly quick breaths and suppressed a moan, her words drawing his attention from her bouncing breasts up to her face, partially obscured by her messy hair, and he slowed his pace to allow her to talk with more ease.

She was grateful for it, as the lessening thrusts helped her contain the orgasm that was knocking at the door, and far too lost in pleasure to feel any shame, she cleared her throat and spoke up

"Come inside me.. please, please.. I need you to come inside me, just.. just fill me up.."

If the Walrider had eyebrows, one would've definitely risen at her words, they were surprising enough to further slow his pace, but as unexpected as her request was, it was more than arousing at the same time.

"You.. little.." his voice was even lower and more gravelly than usual, in other circumstances she would have found it frightening, yet this time it only aroused her further.

Without warning, his grip on her tightened almost uncomfortably and his thrusts increased drastically, assuming a fast, vicious pace, any pain from the hard pounding onto her cervix muffled and overpowered by the waves of pleasure with each thrust.

This time around, she welcomed her climax, which soon hit her like a freight train of ecstasy, her legs tightened as best they could around him, and her pussy tightened around his cock like a vice. Again, she didn't bother even attempting to be quiet, and let her moans, mewls and cusses flow freely, while the dopamine flowed inside her head as well, and flooded her with the blissful sensation. In order to squeeze every drop of the drug in her brain, he didn't stop pounding into her, and decided it was time to oblige her request. Just when she thought she couldn't be more aroused, her eyes shot open, not only because of his low gravelly groan, but also due to the fact that she began feeling something gooey shooting up inside her. Her fingers grasped tighter onto his jacket, and as his pace began slowly lessening, the sensation of being filled up increased, to the point that she felt something slip outside of her. Whispering lewd approvals and appreciations, she rode her orgasm until the end, where for a moment she felt like she was about to pass out, but managed to keep herself awake.

As his pace finally slowed to a halt, he could see she was having trouble staying conscious, let alone sitting upright, so he gently laid her back down to rest on the wide marble edge of the tub as her chest raised and dropped with heavy breaths. Lowering her leg off his shoulder and allowing it to hang above the floor, he slowly retracted his cock out of her, which caused her to moan weakly, and even though she was exhausted, she managed to reach her hand towards her tightening emptiness, only to feel with her fingers the gooey substance her pussy was filled with.

Normally, the Walrider was able to change the consistency of his nanites, shifting them from a dispersed cloud, to a solid form, to flowing like thick water and in-between states, but mixed with her own juices, it made for an even more gooey wet concoction, that much she had been able to figure out by herself when she moved her hand to her face and noticed on her fingers the white color of the slippery nanites forming the substance. Feeling too weak to hold her arm up for much longer, she wiped the goo on her breast and rested her hand over her stomach as she made an effort to recover without falling asleep on the spot.

After putting his tool back in his pants and closing his jacket, the Walrider hopped out of the tub, then pulled Alyssa's nearly limp body down, who supported herself on his arm and against the side of the tub before blindly trying to reach for the towel on the wrong corner of the tub. Seeing that, he pulled the towel himself from the opposite corner and placed it around her shoulders, unable to decipher what she was trying to mumble under her breath. She clumsily grasped onto the material and pulled it tighter around herself, now able to feel the chilly air outside a lot clearer, then began taking unstable steps away.

He didn't trust that she would make it to bed without landing flat on her face, so he held her firmly by the shoulders and guided her inside. Once in the bedroom and close enough to the bed, he gave her a light shove, and she fell forward onto the bed with a few bounces and a weak surprised yelp.

Not bothered by the deep ghostly chuckle behind her and too exhausted to move, she passed out almost immediately. He watched her lay there as she fell into deep sleep for a few seconds, but couldn't resist taking a closer look at her previous request. Knowing how unlikely it was that she'd wake up, he took the towel off of her and turned her over on her back, then pulled her knee to slightly open her legs.

As expected, the sight of his white slime spilling from her pussy past her nether lips was quite satisfying and arousing. He took in the scene, then, for a moment, considered retreating those nanites and cleaning them along with the rest, but decided against it, knowing they weren't going to go anywhere. More importantly, imagining her confusion followed by embarrassment when she would wake up and feel it between her legs was oddly amusing, the mental picture drawing a smirk on his lips.

After loosely covering her with the towel, he left the room and locked the door, knowing she was going to sleep in the nude for a long time and not wanting to have to keep an eye on Billy just in case he decided to explore the apartment, then placed the key in the lock on the inside.


	38. Chapter 38

It was past noon when the sun rays shining through the large windows of the bedroom helped to bring Alyssa out of her long sleep, her closed eyes shut tighter with mild annoyance at the bright light, mentally scolding herself for not pulling the blinds the night before. For another minute, she tried going back to sleep after dragging the towel over her head, feeling too lazy to fully wake up and get out of bed, but the white material wasn't very effective at bringing back the sleep-inducing darkness she wanted.

With a light groan, she decided to put in the effort and turn around to face away from the window, so she could have a minute without the bright light. As soon as she moved her legs, however, the feeling of something slightly sticky between them made her stop, her groggy mind paused with confusion, and the sleepy brain fog began to dissipate. A few seconds later, almost all the memories from the previous night, or rather very early morning, came flooding back, washing away all of her grogginess and bringing mental clarity with record speed.

Her eyes shot open, and she quickly pushed herself to sit up on the bed, coughing after choking on her own saliva. After clearing her throat, she preferred to think the warmth in her cheeks was due to the sudden coughing, but she gave up on trying to fool herself after moving the towel off of her, and seeing the sticky white substance running down on the insides of her thighs. Her head leaned down to rest in her palm, and she ran her hand down her face, not without an embarrassed smirk before getting out of bed and lazily making her way to the bathroom.

After a shower, her rumbling stomach and hunger drew her attention, so she quickly brushed her hair and teeth and put on her navy-blue tank top and skinny jeans, then headed to the kitchen, the hope lingering in the back of her mind that it would at least be a little while longer until she stumbled upon the Walrider.

To her relief, she was only met with Billy in the kitchen, who sat at the marble table near the center of the room, eating from a large pizza, while two other unopened boxes sat on the counter behind him. His attention was first aimed at the suspended television, buttoning the remote and switching channels with one hand, and holding a slice of pizza with the other, until Alyssa stepped towards the table, and he tossed her a casual glance.

"Uh, morning Billy." She said with a small, mildly uncomfortable smile, noticing that he was wearing one of the t-shirts she bought him, but no pants, only blue boxers.

"More like afternoon." He mumbled with his mouth half-full, and Alyssa's attention was drawn to the food

"Why.. why is there pizza, Billy? Did you order it? Did you give anyone your location or name?" her tone was calm, although she couldn't help feeling some concern.

The young man waved his hand dismissively at her with the remote "Relax, it's from the hotel. Was gonna starve to death if I had to wait for you to wake up. And why the shit are you staring at it instead of eating it?"

A soft exhale of relief left Alyssa, she took a box as well as a seat at the table and began eating "I bought some canned food before but, yeah, sorry, I.. fell asleep in the morning."

"Hard to sleep when people are dropping dead around you, eh?" Billy's almost immediate answer, spoken with a smirk and some amusement took her off guard, she paused quietly, a slight frown growing on her face.

"Yes.." she said under her breath before speaking normally "That too."

For the next few minutes, they ate silently, her attention drawn to the television, unable to ignore the news reports as he flipped past news channels.

"So you saw it on TV.." Alyssa broke the silence, but kept her gaze on her food

"Hm? Oh yeah, mister grumpy ghost told me about it too, man, bitch had it coming to her."

She tried to pay his harsh comment no mind, and soon recalled the mess she previously made in the kitchen.

"Did you clean up that broken wine glass? I accidentally dropped one last night.." her voice faded as she glanced down at the floor, failing to see any shards of broken glass

"Housekeeping lady did." Billy mumbled with pizza in his mouth, then continued when he noticed the look of concern on her face upon hearing his words "Chill, she didn't come in your room or see the Walrider, just stopped by and cleaned up a bit, dusted the flowers, watered the furniture, stuff like that."

His answer eased her worries, and she raised a somewhat amused eyebrow at it, but refrained from commenting. They ate in silence again, until Alyssa spoke after occasionally throwing quick glances over her shoulder, towards the empty living room

"So.. where is Wally, anyway?"

Instead of an answer, her question was followed by Billy's laughter, as well as several coughs when he choked due to laughing with food in his mouth. It worried Alyssa ever-so-slightly, she began sitting up to hand him a glass of water, but sat back down when he signaled her to and his coughs settled down.

"Oh shit, how-" he wiped a tear from his eye and cleared his throat, his wide smile lingering as he spoke "How can you call him that without pissing him off? If I called him that he'd rip my head off and shove it down my neck hole."

A hesitant smile grew on her lips, but before she could say anything, a familiar low and gravelly voice drew their attention

"And I still might, just for asking stupid questions."

When Alyssa looked towards the doorway to the living room, she spotted the Walrider standing, rather floating there, his feet a few inches off the spotless white tiles. While he was mostly inky black again, there were some shades of grey running down the front of his body, accentuating his musculature and detailing his face, which showed a relaxed expression, at least, as relaxed as it could appear considering its frightening nature. Still, his hands, feet and back lacked a skin layer, exposing some of the dark grey skeleton underneath.

Alyssa averted her gaze from him rather quickly, already feeling some warmth rising in her cheeks, as the sight of him instantly reminded her of what had happened that morning, and barely heard Billy's comment

"Told ya."

She didn't realize the Walrider had floated right behind her until she suddenly heard him speak, making her slightly flinch

"When shall we leave, then?"

Confused, she briefly looked up to give him a questioning look, to which he clarified "You wished to go.. shopping?"

Alyssa's face lit up at the understanding, although more so at the fact that he hadn't brought up their deeds from that morning that she didn't want to talk about, she was more than relieved

"O-oh yeah, we're going? Awesome! Let me just finish eating and grab my jacket. Should also buy some food so we don't have to keep ordering from the hotel every day." She hid her nervousness well enough to fool Billy, who interjected casually as he finished up his own food

"Where are you assholes going and why am I not invited?"

Before she could come up with a reply, the Walrider spoke up "It doesn't matter, and you ought to know why you mustn't show your face in public, Billy, if you'd be deemed sane enough to testify in court against Murkoff, that alone would make you a threat worthy of termination to them. If not, then the last thing I need is your swarm doing Murkoff's bidding if they captured and tortured you."

In response, Billy waved his hand dismissively as he took the last bite of his pizza "Yeah, yeah, fine, jeez.." then stepped over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water "Was kidding, I have movies to watch here!" he took a few large gulps of water, before quickly snapping his fingers in realization and turning to Alyssa "Oh! That reminds me, I got some shit I can't find on the online TV thingy that I really gotta watch, could you buy me some DVDs? Uh, please?"

Feeling still mildly uncomfortable with the Walrider standing just inches behind her, Alyssa spoke up after a short pause "Um, y-yes, sure, I'll fetch you whatever you need, make a list, will you? Leave it on the table here."

The cheery smile and thumbs up Billy gave her made her feel more at ease, he downed the rest of the water then went to leave, but suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned back to Alyssa

"Hey. Hey.. This is kinda awkward, but.. I don't really think I caught your name?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but the Walrider did so before she could "Good, you don't need to know it."

His sudden answer made Billy's shoulders slump and set a semi-serious look of annoyance on his face, until Alyssa intervened with a somewhat nervous tone and smile

"Oh come on, we can trust him. Besides, if he were to get captured, I think we'd be pretty screwed regardless of whether or not he knows my first name.." when all she received from the Walrider was a deep exhale, she felt it was fine to continue "My name's Alyssa, Billy, nice to, uh, late-meet you."

The young man nodded "Got'cha." He headed for the door, and after he was out of the kitchen, she slightly jumped when the Walrider spoke louder than usual

"And put pants on!"

Almost immediately, Billy shouted back, his voice distancing as he continued walking away "Says the asshole who's always naked!"

Their exchange drew a giggle out of her, she briefly wondered how Billy could speak like that to the Walrider without being afraid of getting hurt, then considered the fact that perhaps he knew the swarm wouldn't hurt him without good reason, especially since Billy wasn't entirely mentally there. She stood up and walked over to the sink to wash some pizza sauce off her hand, and just as she felt more at ease, letting the warm water run down her hands, the Walrider's voice suddenly startled her

"Are you sore?"

Alyssa glanced to her left for half a second, seeing he was uncomfortably close, then quickly shook her head, trying to appear and sound as casual as she could in her simple answer "No."

Taking a few steps to the side, she reached for the paper towels on the counter and dried her hands, but when she tried to back away, she couldn't even turn around until she bumped into him, and he placed his arms by her sides, blocking her between himself and the counter

"Do you remember what you did this morning?" he asked, much to her dread, and she felt her knees weaken

"Please don't do this.." Alyssa whispered, her hand rising to her face, partially obscuring her shy smile, then tensed up when she felt his hands move from the counter to her hips, sneaking his fingers underneath her thin tank top and slowly moving them upwards, pushing the material with them.

She opened her mouth to speak, but only managed to swallow as she tried to come up with either an appropriate answer, or a way to escape

"Must I repeat myself?" he asked again, and she could pick up the teasing undertone from his voice.

A soft sigh left her, she shook her head, deciding with reluctance that it would be futile to keep trying to avoid the subject

"I was drunk, okay?" she spoke under her breath, not bothering to hide her embarrassed amusement

"Are you _sure_ that is your answer?"

Alyssa bit her lip at his question, she knew he could tell she wasn't being entirely honest, so she hesitantly gave in

"No.." a chuckle left her, both embarrassed and amused at the situation "Hey, I never really had the occasion to let it all out, it kinda, uh, bottled up inside me, you know? The drinking helped me to.. lose some inhibitions, so.. guilty as charged."

At this, his hands stopped ascending, and began slowly traveling back down, followed by a deep rumble of approval; he hesitantly decided she had been teased enough lately, so much to her relief, he moved one of his arms, and she took the opportunity to quickly step away and return to the bedroom.

As she walked, she occasionally tossed glances over her shoulder, further relieved both at the fact that he wasn't following her, and at the warmth in her cheeks decreasing, she lowered her top back in place, and gently closed the bedroom door behind her. Once she did so, she couldn't help feeling a slight sense of excitement over being able to go do some much-needed shopping, she fetched the old phone Waylon had given her, the sight of which increased her anticipation over buying a brand new smartphone.

She quickly wrote a list of items, just in case her memory would fail her, considering all the things that insisted running through her mind on a daily basis, then picked some money from the drawer to stuff in her wallet and stepped into the bathroom. After applying some makeup and double-checking she was ready to go, she put her jacket on, grabbed her mostly empty backpack, and walked out of the bedroom.

As soon as she took the first step out, she jumped and dropped the backpack, which stopped in mid-air, and she sighed in relief upon realizing that the dark figure leaning against the wall right next to the door was the Walrider, whose form was shifted back into his disguise.

"Christ, and here I thought these scares were gonna stop after the asylum.." she picked up the floating backpack and placed it on her back before heading to the kitchen, whispering more to herself "Billy had better made that list, don't feel like waiting.."

When she checked the kitchen table, she was pleased to see a small piece of paper with a list of items written on it, she picked it up and placed it in her pocket, then found the Walrider standing near the large double doors of the apartment exit, waiting with patience she envied.

Just as her excitement grew upon being ready to leave, she suddenly felt a sense of hesitation when she took another look at the hooded swarm under the bright light, she stopped approaching the door, then threw a glance behind, through a window. After noticing the clear sunny day on the afternoon hour, she turned back to him, then at the window again, her behavior making her hesitation that much more obvious

"What is it?" the Walrider asked rather puzzled, and she turned back to face him, with a somewhat concerned expression

"It's just.. you look, uh.. Pretty sketchy." She couldn't see his questioning look

"We have successfully used this disguise before." He stated, but Alyssa shook her head

"I know, I know, but.. it was dark, or it was just for like a minute or so in public, this time it's broad daylight and we're gonna be walking down a brightly lit mall for a while, you're gonna draw attention. There's usually cops in large shopping centers too.." her voice trailed off, followed by a few seconds of thoughtful silence

"Would you prefer me to vanish?" he questioned, and Alyssa already began shaking her head in refusal, but he continued "I would be right by your side, only out of sight."

While she could agree his suggestion would be a logical solution, she couldn't help refusing it, knowing she would feel much more at ease if he was visibly with her like before.

"That wouldn't be.. no.." her voice faded and a silent pause set again, the Walrider crossed his arms at the impasse, then soon, her face lit up and she snapped her fingers

"I got it!" a small victorious smile grew on her lips "Bandages!" she exclaimed almost proudly

"Do elaborate…" he said with clearly fake curiosity, but Alyssa stepped closer to him as she explained and pointed to his mask

"Simple, just replace that with bandages. Instantly going from 'sketchy prowler' to 'damn, that poor guy, wonder what happened to him'. If anyone asks, we make up some crap about a terrible accident and bam, any suspicion replaced with sympathy."

The Walrider had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea, so without commenting, he altered the shape, texture and color of his black mask into the appearance of semi-worn, wrapped bandages.

"Perfect!" Alyssa exclaimed upon seeing the change, doing a double-take at how realistic they looked, then quickly hooked her arm around his and dragged him out the door.

In the elevator, he considered how outgoing and energetic she was being, and how quickly that would change the moment he spoke of what she did that morning. The thought amused him, he looked down at her, his height giving him a better view of her cleavage, and he made an effort to keep his hands in his pockets, which was made easier when the elevator stopped and more people stepped inside.

Once outside the hotel, he began heading for the parking lot, but Alyssa pulled him to continue down the sidewalk, and spoke up before he could question

"We gotta take a taxi, someone who knows the city and will know where to take us." She said casually, a small smile still lingering on her lips, and he didn't protest. After hailing a cab, they got in the back seat and the vehicle mixed with the rest of the traffic.

"Where we headed to, mister, miss?" the driver asked with a friendly smile, adjusting the front mirror, a man of roughly fifty years of age, tan and chubby, with a moustache and blue cap.

"I'm not quite sure, we're new to the city and I need to do some shopping.." Alyssa said in an equally friendly manner, her sweet tone making the Walrider's would-be eyes roll, and he lazily leaned back.

"Oh plenty of that in Denver, lookin' for something precise, or?" the man asked, but she shook her head politely

"Not really, some variety would be useful, actually, need some clothes, food, electronics.." she trailed off in a questioning tone, and the man nodded

"Say no more, little lady, we got a huge shopping center right down south, right past that snobby country club and their golf courses. Tsk, waste of land, I'm tellin' ya.."

Alyssa raised a curious, somewhat awkward eyebrow, a small polite smile remained on her lips, then she felt more at ease when the man laughed "Sorry, sorry, just always bothers me seeing good land go to waste for that lame thing they dare call a sport, hah. Anyway, how's that shopping center sound? Fifteen minutes down south."

A short giggle left Alyssa, and she nodded "It sounds good, let's go for it. And nah, I agree, if someone owned that land they could plant some fresh veggies and fruits on it."

"Damn right I could!" the driver exclaimed with a wider smile, she didn't know if he referred to himself by accident, but she let him continue "The real healthy kind, not that injected crap they sell us in stores." He waved his hand on the steering wheel, the man was a lot more outgoing and friendly than most people she met before, but she couldn't help appreciating his upbeat positivity, especially considering the negative things and people in her life recently.

After some more idle chat, the driver threw a glance in the mirror at the silent bandaged hooded man next to Alyssa, and his curiosity got the best of him

"Say, not to pry, mister, but that looks mighty painful."

Although the Walrider's face could be hidden, his voice was a more difficult issue, she spoke up before he could, not wanting to take the risk of scaring the man

"Oh, my friend's been released from the hospital a few days ago, the doctors said to keep the bandages on for a while longer, it was an awful accident, a-an explosion."

The man's face slightly scrunched up with pity and he shook his head "Good lord, all these nasty things happening to good people these days, hard times.."

Alyssa tried not to react to his words, then the Walrider's low gravelly voice drew their attention

"Yees.." he spoke almost lazily, and the driver's startled and slightly disturbed expression eased when he continued "The blast did not spare my vocal chords either."

"Boy, I can tell!" the man said with a friendly smile again "You sound like the son of Satan!" he laughed cheerfully, until he noticed the surprised, somewhat uncomfortable look on Alyssa's face "Oh I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he snorted, settling down his laughter "My wife says my humor goes too far sometimes! No offense, folks, all the best wishes to you."

Alyssa chuckled too, slightly nervously, and waved a hand dismissively "It's quite alright, really. How much longer until we arrive?"

"Just a few more minutes, traffic's tighter than usual today." The man checked the watch on his wrist, then the meter on the dashboard, and she nodded quietly.

Unsurprisingly due to the traffic, they arrived several minutes later, and after leaving a generous tip, Alyssa hooked her arm around the Walrider's and began approaching the entrance of the shopping center. Past a set of large glass doors, her smile widened when they stepped onto the shiny marble floor of the moderately busy, brightly lit two-story mall; in the first lobby stood a decorative fountain with flowing water and staircases on the left and right, while the building split into wide hallways to each side, lined with one store after another.

With excitement, she began walking to the left, planning to eventually circle around the building on both floors, and it wasn't long until the Walrider already began regretting his change of mind.

Wishing to buy the lighter items first, she visited a few clothing stores, and took her time buying some shirts, pants, skirts, shoes and undergarments. She had to admit, she initially planned to only buy the basics, spare clothing she would only need to wear as she washed others, but she couldn't help herself, and pushed away the negative feelings when she remembered the story behind the money she was spending.

 _Better than used for protecting Murkoff.._ she thought to herself before returning her mind to the present moment, appreciating how good it felt to do things that other people took for granted without looking over their shoulder and being afraid for their life. At a shoes store, she decided to buy a pair of heavy duty steel-toed combat boots for herself, just in case she would need something reliable for rough conditions, although she hoped they wouldn't be needed.

Once she was content with the clothes and shoes, she moved on to electronics stores where she bought a thin silver laptop, and a similar smartphone.

"See these?" Alyssa pointed to the cameras on both devices

"To be removed?" the Walrider asked, and she nodded once

"And the microphones, as soon as we get home. I used to put tape on my own, but I'm not trusting tape this time around."

After checking Billy's list and hers, she visited a couple more stores where she bought the movies and video games he requested, then, deciding it was time to buy some food so they wouldn't have to bother ordering it from the hotel, she began searching for the food department. At that point, she had to practically pull the Walrider by the arm for him to follow her, which she couldn't help but find amusing, almost cute

"We're almost done, promise." she said with a short giggle

When they reached another open area in the mall, she noticed the large, colorful playground in the center, lined with benches where parents sat and chatted, while children joyfully played with each other, toys, slides and swings inside.

Alyssa's walking pace slowed somewhat, and a warm smile grew on her lips, although it wasn't long until it turned slightly sad, as the sight, as innocent and calming as it was, quickly reminded her of Waylon and his family. She tried to keep her concerns at bay for the next minutes, but she did a poor job at it, she couldn't discard her worries and even felt almost guilty, she considered how relatively safe she was at the hotel, compared to where the Parks might be and the danger following them.

Eventually, she told herself she was going to call Waylon that day to hear they were doing well, and was relieved that the decision allowed her concerns to temporarily wash away.

"Oh my god.." Alyssa's whisper, spoken with glee after a few minutes of silence, drew the Walrider's attention, he looked at her to see her stare was fixed on another clothing store, her pace slowed increasingly more as they walked past it, to the point that she then stopped and began approaching the store.

He wanted to sigh in annoyance, but suppressed it and followed her, readying himself to wait around again while she tried on more clothes, until he noticed that she stopped in front of the store, and what she was admiring.

Behind the glass wall of the store stood a number of female mannequins, lined up next to each other, wearing short to knee-length dresses, most of them brightly colored, of silky materials with corsets, flared skirts and puffy petticoats underneath.

"Oh my god, these are so adorable.." Alyssa said with a smile as her eyes appreciatively traveled across each dress, then lightly gasped in delight when her gaze landed on another one, a pure white, thigh-length dress of lace and silk, with red decorative designs running down the corset and flared skirt "Isn't this cute?" she asked with a wider smile as she kept her eyes on the dress, but only received silence in return "I know they look old fashioned, they're inspired from those ancient dresses women used to wear centuries ago, you know, but aren't they adorable?"

Once again, she heard nothing, and beginning to worry that the Walrider wasn't behind her anymore, she unglued her gaze from the dress and looked back, relieved to see him still standing several feet behind her, although his stare seemed to be fixed vaguely in her direction, and he appeared still as a statue.

"Wally?.." she questioned softly, but her words changed nothing, and a few seconds later she spoke again, with some concern, and rose her hand towards him "Hey!"

She jumped when she saw him slightly flinch, something she'd never seen him do before, then his gaze lowered to the floor as he shifted his weight.

"Are you alright?" Alyssa's brows furrowed with worry, but he shook his head

"Fine." He whispered, although she could tell his answer, along with the way he looked away from the store was rather dismissive of the subject, she was about to ask if he was sure, when he spoke again, with noticeable hesitation "You like those.. things?"

Alyssa paused, her expression relaxing as some of her concern eased, although she couldn't bring herself to entirely discard it.

"Yeah.." she finally said, throwing another glance at the dresses behind the glass, and a small smile returned to her lips as she spoke "Like I said, I know they look ancient but for some reason I always liked these types of dresses, ever since I was little." she stepped back towards him, and they continued down the hallway "My mom bought me a child sized one when I was a kid, which I adored, to the point that I would annoy her because I wore it so much around the house." A small giggle left her at the memory "I still have.. It should still be at my parents' house to this day. Anyway.."

She couldn't hold back a deep sigh after her voice faded, and made an effort to keep more memories at bay, knowing it was the wrong time and place to get depressed and worried.

"Oh, there it is, finally." She spoke upon finding the food department, feeling ready to finish shopping and return to the hotel.

By the time she was done buying both fresh and canned food, as well as some sweets and soda, her backpack and the bags in her hands were feeling rather heavy, to the point that she was relieved he helped her carry some, and when she threw a glance out a window, she was glad it was summer, otherwise the sun would had already been setting.

After checking both her list and Billy's and making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, they finally headed towards the exit; the security guard in blue next to it gave the Walrider a brief look, but luckily said nothing as they passed by the man and walked out the shopping center.

"Now to fetch another cab." she said more to herself as she walked past the parking lot towards the sidewalk and street, adjusting her grip on the handles of the bags in her hands.

Ten minutes later, Alyssa could hardly believe their luck. One, after the other, after the other, each taxi cab that passed by was either occupied with other passengers, or simply drove past them, presumably temporarily unavailable for its service.

"Are you shitting me?!" she eventually said louder than would be appropriate in public, drawing a few glances from people walking by, after yet another yellow car drove right past her waving hand.

"Let's go." the Walrider stated simply, but she quickly protested

"No way, I'm not going back on foot! The taxi guy said it's like, five miles!"

"Four point five." He corrected calmly, and she sighed quietly with frustration "Come." He spoke again, and she wanted to protest again, but realized she had little choice in the matter when he started walking away, so she hesitantly followed.

As they made their way back towards the hotel down the moderately busy sidewalk, she still refused to give up on a ride, so occasionally, she would quickly put her bag down so she could wave at incoming taxi cabs. Much to her chagrin, however, her luck only changed for the worse, as the yellow cars began driving past with decreasing frequency the further they walked from the shopping center.

Soon, she finally gave up and accepted the journey, telling herself it wasn't going to be that long, and how it wasn't unsafe, which, in truth, was accurate enough. Her acceptance allowed her frustration to wash away, and eventually, she couldn't stop her mind from returning to the Walrider's odd behavior at that particular store.

She walked roughly a foot behind him, her eyes resting on his back in contemplation; for a few moments, she considered dismissing the issue and forgetting it happened, since he seemed oddly uncomfortable at the time, perhaps it was a private matter, but as much as she didn't like intruding on other people's private business, she couldn't help her concern, and admittedly, some curiosity as well.

"You weren't alright." She stated, and wasn't surprised when her words were followed by a long pause, then by a deep gravelly sigh.

"And you still aren't." she spoke again, softer this time, a slight frown of concern growing on her face

After a few more silent seconds, he finally answered her "What do you want, Alyssa?" his tone mildly irritated

"I want to know what's bothering you." She said pleadingly, to which he responded much more quickly in a rougher manner

"Why?"

To his surprise, she also had an immediate answer "Because, I don't like seeing you upset. It scares me."

Her words took him off guard, that much she could tell by his softer, surprised tone, and slower walking pace as he looked down at her "I would not hurt you."

Alyssa blinked in confusion, until she realized the implication of her statement "O-oh no, not like that. I mean it scares me because nothing seems to budge you, but earlier there you seemed to.. zone out and act as if something was bothering you. What could be so bad that it would affect someone like you? That's kinda scary.. I don't understand.. it was just some dresses. Did they.. remind you of something, or?.." her voice faded with a questioning tone, she watched him with a look of concern and expectation, but he turned his gaze back to the sidewalk.

After some more long silent moments, Alyssa began assuming her questions would go ignored, she was about to sigh and accept it, until she was surprised to hear his voice, and even more so, his answer

"They reminded me of death."

Her eyebrow rose and she blinked a few times, puzzled at his words, as her brain tried to make some sense of them, but spoke up when she came up empty

"How could some pretty dresses remind you of death?.." she whispered the last half of her question

Again, he sounded rather hesitant in his answer "It is.. not a pleasant story."

At that, Alyssa cracked an encouraging smile and stepped to walk closer to him "Come on, I've heard a lot of true horror stories. And it can't be worse than the real-life asylum horror story we went through. Come on, please, I'm all ears."

The Walrider looked down at her eager, expectant expression and smile, he knew he could simply ignore her and she likely wouldn't bring it up again, but eventually decided to give in.

With an exhale of defeat, he threw a glance around them, and after a group of people passed by, spoke up under his breath, just enough for her to hear

"A very long time ago, on a much older Earth, I was the commanding knight serving under the Duke, who in turn served under the King. The King's daughter, along with all noble women of that world wore dresses similar to what you've seen at the store, but longer, more modest."

Alyssa listened quietly, and when he paused, she wanted to ask a question, feeling confused and thinking he was done, but silenced herself as he continued "It was a far different society, women belonged to their fathers, who would choose their husbands for them, who would then own them in turn. Such was the fate of the King's daughter as well. She.. hated the man her father had chosen for her, she could not stand the sight of him, she despised their approaching wedding."

He threw a brief look at Alyssa, and saw she was still listening intently, although he knew it was best to keep the details of the next part at a minimum.

"With me, she was.. head over heels. She loved me, and so did I. Needless to say, it was strictly forbidden, so we did our best to maintain it a secret, lest I faced execution. In the days prior to their wedding, she begged me to sneak out of the castle with her, hide ourselves under cloaks. I agreed, and.. I need not go into details of what we did once we reached a remote inn."

When he discreetly looked down at Alyssa again, he noticed the slight rosy color in her cheeks and her eyes wider than before, but she remained quiet.

"The wedding proceeded as planned, she appeared calm and sincere to her appointed husband, but she was burning on the inside. We.. continued seeing each other in secret, and each time, she would hide the bruises he had laid on her under her hair and clothes."

Suddenly, he stopped, and glanced towards the street, where a taxi cab was approaching. His hands occupied with the bags, he nodded at her to wave at it, but Alyssa seemed rather uninterested

"Huh? Oh, no, go on.." she whispered after throwing a glance at the cab, then returning it to him, wordlessly urging him to continue, so he did

"During one.. covert visit, I did notice. I said nothing, I pretended I saw nothing. Later that week, I snuck into her husband's quarters as he slept. I tied a rag over his mouth.. and beat him to death with my gauntlets."

Alyssa swallowed, her eyes briefly widened in surprise before a disturbed frown set on her face, but again, remained quiet and listened

"We left the castle that night, it wasn't long until they found the body, but by that time, we were far away, heading to the outskirts of the kingdom. We managed to remain undetected for nearly a year, until they found us.. They took us to the gallows to be executed, and her father asked her if she had one last wish he could grant her. She wished for us to be killed at the same time, so we would not have to see one another die. The King.. he made us face each other. Then had me killed first, in front of her."

Alyssa's frown deepened at the conclusion of the story, she had to admit, even with his warning, she didn't think she would find his story that unsettling, but it upset her significantly more than she expected.

"That was the last time I have lived in the flesh, after that, I renounced it." He finished, and a deep pained sigh left her

"I.. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, apart from.. Jesus Christ, what is wrong with those people… I'm sorry if you didn't want to talk about it, I didn't mean to pry."

The Walrider raised a bandaged eyebrow at her "If I didn't wish to speak of it, human, I would not have spoken of it."

She paused briefly, and was pleasantly surprised when he raised his hand at an incoming taxi cab, and the car did pull over, waiting for them.

After putting their baggage in the trunk, getting in the back seat and giving the driver the hotel's address, she scooted next to him and whispered

"I was going to ask why would her father do such a horrible thing.. but I should know better after.." she was slightly surprised when he placed his arm around her and pulled her closer to him, but she took the opportunity to further lower her voice "after the asylum.. Some people are just downright cruel and heartless."

For the next minute, they remained quiet, until he spoke under his breath, more to himself "How bizarre…"

"Huh? What is?" she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder

"I feel.. relief. After sharing this memory."

At that, Alyssa only smiled, and he was slightly taken off guard when she reached up and planted a small kiss on his bandaged cheek, leaving a faint pink mark from her lip gloss, before nuzzling back to his chest.

During the rest of the drive, she appreciated that the taxi driver wasn't nearly as talkative as the previous one, he still attempted to make small talk, to which she politely replied, but he soon took the hint that neither of them were in the mood for idle conversation, and remained quiet.

Once back at the apartment, Alyssa's eyes rolled with an amused exhale when she noticed Billy watching television in the living room, still in his boxers, sitting on the sofa upside down, his legs leaning against the back rest, then winced when she spotted the bottle in his hand that she assumed he must have taken from the bar.

"Billy, don't sit like that and drink, you're gonna choke!" she placed the bags on the other sofa, the young man only mumbled something, most of his attention remaining on the movie he was watching, until she pulled out the plastic bag full of the DVDs and lightly tossed it next to him on the sofa "Here's your stuff, and I bought you more spare clothes, so you have even less reasons to stay in your underwear now!" she raised her voice playfully, and interrupted him from looking through the DVDs by throwing his new clothes over him

"Ah shit, thanks!" his voice was slightly muffled by the clothes over his head, until he pulled them away "Thanks, you're a doll."

With some haste, he gathered the items in his arms and prepared to move them to his room, but then dropped half of them on the floor when he noticed the hooded man step into the living room, while Alyssa's back was to him as she rummaged through one of the bags.

Just as Billy opened his mouth to shout, some of the nanites on the apparent stranger dissipated, and his shape transformed back into the familiar form of the Walrider

"Holy fucking tits, man, don't scare me like that!" Billy still shouted, gathering the items from the floor and heading to his room "I thought Alyssa was followed here by a Murkoff spook or something, shit.."

Alyssa chuckled, and the Walrider said nothing, only took a seat on the adjacent sofa and watched as she placed the new laptop and smartphone on the coffee table, sat next to him and pulled the table closer to them.

Flipping the laptop over, she turned to glance at him with an expectant look. After he gathered more nanites onto him, enough for the grey details on his body and face to reappear, she could see he was giving her a blank, almost bored look in return, she opened her mouth to speak, then stopped when he showed her his palm, and the shape of a screwdriver emerged from it.

"Lovely." Alyssa said jokingly as she took the tool and began unscrewing the bottom of the device.

It took more finesse than she expected, especially when the turn of the smaller, much thinner device came; eventually though, they managed to extract the cameras and microphones from both devices, the former of which were then destroyed and discarded.

A sigh of relief left Alyssa as she booted the laptop and confirmed that everything else was in working order, after checking her phone as well, she found that it also seemed to be functioning as expected, despite the less-than-professional modifications they had done to both.

Deciding it was best to get done with the unpleasant task that had been lingering in the back of her mind for a while, she typed in the hotel's Wi-Fi password, the computer connected to the internet, and with some hesitation, she opened a browsing window and searched for the Murkoff lawyer's name. As she anticipated, the news section was flooded with articles about the woman's murder, she scanned her eyes over them, clicked a few and read through them, but apart from a few unpleasant details, she found no information that she hadn't already known or expected.

"Satisfied?" the Walrider's voice slightly startled her, it took her a moment to realize he was referring to the devices she bought

"Oh, yep." She nodded, then shut the lid of the laptop "Gonna put this stuff away."

Taking all the bags from the other sofa in her hands with some difficulty, she carried them to the bedroom, removed the clothes and shoes she bought, and placed them in wardrobes and drawers. Once the items were set, she took the bags to the kitchen, where she stored the food and drinks in the cabinets and refrigerator, before returning to the living room to move the laptop and smartphone to her bedroom.


	39. Chapter 39

Laying on the bed, she took some time to customize her new devices to her liking, but she hadn't forgotten the other task that she previously made a mental note to accomplish. She tried to ignore the feeling of foreboding and the heavier thumping of her heart when she picked up her old phone and opened the contacts list, to see the only number available.

Before she dialed it, she bit her lip with some hesitation and concern, then decided to find the Walrider. With her heart still beating harder than it should in anticipation to the call, she walked back into the living room, and noticed the swarm was still on the sofa, although he laid down and placed his hands behind his head, allowing one leg to rest on the floor and the other to hang over the edge of the sofa, as it was less than fitting for his large frame.

Alyssa stepped up to the sofa, leaning forward on its back rest and holding the phone in clear view before speaking in a neutral tone "I'm gonna call Waylon."

It mildly surprised her when the Walrider barely shrugged, she expected at least some sort of comment if not his disagreement with her idea, yet he gave her nothing of the sort.

Taking a seat on one of the armchairs, her thumb pressed the dial button after a short reluctant pause, and she brought the phone to her ear. The thumping of her heart increased ever-so-slightly further, the thought crossed her mind that she could be calling at the wrong time, perhaps even endangering them, but she dismissed her worry and waited as one after the other, the dialing rings continued.

Eventually, after what felt to her like a long minute, she heard the familiar voice of Waylon Park, although she could immediately tell both from his words and tone that he sounded rather concerned and fearful

"That better be you." Waylon spoke under his breath

"Hey, yes, it's me. I hope I'm not calling at the wrong moment, I just wanted to make sure you guys are alright, how are you doing?" Alyssa tried to sound somewhat cheerful, even though her worries already began returning upon hearing the man's tone.

For the next several seconds, she only heard vague noises of fumbling in the background, and a few whispers, the voices of which she managed to recognize as Waylon and Lisa's, although she could not decipher what they were saying. She waited patiently, her concern growing, but nothing compared to what she felt once the man's voice returned and spoke again, hurried and under his breath

"Alyssa, we're crammed up in a shoddy motel room on the edge of Denver, my children are injured, Alex can't walk anymore, it was a fucking car bomb, the bastards must've found me and followed us after we split up."

Alyssa's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock at the man's words, she listened intently as he continued after a sniff "W-we rented a car, but it was a while until we tried to get in it, they must've planted the bomb then, the kids were impatient to leave, I don't know how the fuck it detonated, by proximity or something, but they were closer to the car, Lisa and I got a few scratches, but Alex had to get emergency surgery on his back, his spine's been too damaged, the doctors said nerve damage, they can't fix it, h-he can't use his legs anymore." Waylon paused to catch his breath and exhaled heavily "No, we're not alright at all, Alyssa.. Where are you at least, are you safe?"

It took her a few seconds to collect her thoughts and form a coherent sentence after the shock she just received "I-I'm fine, we're in Denver but.. Jesus Christ, Mr. Park, I'm so sorry, isn't there any safer place you could go to?"

"We're not risking moving right now, not without a safe place to move to, we weren't followed from the hospital, but we don't want more risks, I don't know how much more of this shit we can dodge before.."

Waylon's voice trailed off, and Alyssa took the opportunity to express her confusion "Wait, how do you know you were not followed from the hospital?"

"Lisa and I split up with the kids on the way here, I took Alex and she took Sam, in the hospital we paid some people to go buy us new clothes, she got one of those outfits that cover the face that religious women wear and I'm hiding my face with a cap and hood. We've been stuck in this motel for a few days, think it's safe to say we're under the radar for now, cause I don't doubt those fuckers would toss a grenade through the window or something if they knew we were here, but I don't know how much longer we can stay here."

By the time Waylon finished, Alyssa's heart felt like it was beating from the pit of her stomach, she shook her head lightly and took a few moments to gather her thoughts again

"I.. Christ, I don't even know what to say, I want to help you, but I'm not sure how.."

The Walrider wasn't surprised at all when her gaze shifted from the floor over to him and she gave him a deeply concerned, pleading look. When he finally moved and stood up, so slowly and with so much reluctance, he floated over to her, and took the phone from her hand.

"Perhaps later." He simply stated, hung up, then dropped the phone next to Alyssa on the armchair. Again, her reaction was predictable to him

"Wh.. what do you mean, did you hear what he said, he said-"

"I heard." He quickly interrupted her, but the saddened and pleading look on her face remained "You ought to know how dangerous bringing them here would be, we cannot afford to be reckless. Plus, Paul could return soon with another assignment, we have tasks of higher priority."

Without really considering his words, Alyssa opened her mouth to protest, but on second thought, she bit her lip and quieted herself. As worried as she was, and as much as it stung her, she couldn't deny that he had a point, although she consoled herself with the fact that he did not entirely dismiss the possibility of lending a helping hand to the family.

"You said later, though? What about after we do the next.. assignment?" she questioned hesitantly but hopefully.

"Yes, perhaps afterwards. For now, we must await Paul's return."

Knowing that was likely the best outcome she was going to get out of the situation, she decided to accept it, and clung to the hope that the Parks would remain safe for a few days longer.

"Fine.." Alyssa spoke under her breath and nodded weakly before standing up and heading towards her bedroom "I'll.. go rest."

Once she was out of sight, a heavy gravelly exhale left the Walrider. In actuality, his intentions of helping the Parks were so little they might as well not exist, but he knew how much it would upset Alyssa if he completely rejected the possibility of them lending a hand; by that time, he no longer resisted the fact that he did care about her opinion of him, and he did not wish to outright lie to her either. Judging by her observable pessimism, he hadn't managed to raise her hopes up too much, just enough to keep her from becoming upset and depressed with worry, while he also avoided lying.

If he was to be even more truthful to himself, the risk of bringing the Parks over to the penthouse was not high either, if they had not been followed back into the city to their motel and the man and woman were to separate with the children when they arrived at the hotel using their disguises, the risk seemed minimal, he simply did not wish for them to be around.

Back in her room, Alyssa allowed herself to drop onto the bed with a few bounces. As she laid limply with a blank expression, her mind quickly took the opportunity to begin worrying about the Parks and whether or not they would still be safe or in the city by the time their next assignment was finished. It wasn't long until the worrisome thoughts brought the worst-case scenarios to her mind, followed by an uneasy feeling to her stomach, so she made an effort to push them aside.

With her eyes turning towards the half-opened door of a wardrobe, the idea to try on some of the new clothes she bought struck her, it was appealing enough to make her sit up on the bed, but when she was about to stand up, she couldn't help the frown that formed on her face, realizing she couldn't bring herself to engage in something that she typically very much enjoyed while she could barely keep at bay the concerns about the family's safety.

After picking up her smartphone, she stared at the passing seconds on its clock, her frown slowly faded, yet the worries remained.

 _Come on, Mr. Marion… Even more lives depend on you now. Please, hurry.._

Alyssa swallowed, and dropped the device onto the mattress, then picked it up when she realized she could use it to distract herself and push the worrisome thoughts to the back of her mind, understanding the stress they brought did her no good. She downloaded some games onto it, but over twenty minutes later she finally gave in and accepted that it wasn't an effective solution, more often than not she found herself playing on auto-pilot, her fingers moving by themselves while her mind returned to the stressful thoughts.

"Ugh!" her hand squeezed around the device before she lightly tossed it with frustration, landing it onto the mattress, followed by her own body.

A deep pained sigh left her as she laid limply again, not bothering to move away the hair that fell over her face, covering half of it. She allowed her eyes to close, as well as the thoughts to flow without resistance, and before she realized it, they began taking a rather accusatory course, wondering if the risk of reuniting with the Parks really was too great, and remembering how persistent the Walrider had been to separate from them before they had to do so. Her mind entertained the ideas for just a few seconds, before she shook her head and tried to dismiss them.

 _No, no.. He's just.. trying to keep us alive._

Once the concerning thoughts prolonged their stay for much longer than she intended, however, she again had to make an effort to bury them, and after opening her eyes, her gaze landed on the laptop resting on the bed. With an exhale of defeat, she crawled herself closer to the device and opened up an internet browsing window.

At first, she stuck with humor and entertainment websites, successfully distracting herself and slightly lifting her mood, but it wasn't too long until one click after the other lead her to news websites with increasing frequency, where she wasn't surprised to catch glimpses of headlines of the Murkoff lawyer's murder. While she did her best to ignore them, her eyes soon scanned over another article title, her mind reading it automatically and making her do a double take.

 _Wait.. what? The police recently released security camera footage? But.._ Alyssa's brows furrowed with confusion and some concern, clearly recalling telling the Walrider to make sure to disable the security cameras inside the woman's house, even though she assumed he was already planning to do so.

With mixed emotions, she quickly clicked the article for more information, and was somewhat relieved to see the footage released was only still photos, not video, although they clearly showed the supposed murderer, the masked man that she knew was the Walrider in disguise, as well as some censored images of the more graphic scenes.

Alyssa lightly bit her lip and shook her head, still puzzled as to how the visual evidence existed, it unnerved her, albeit not much, since to the outside observer, the suspect only appeared to be a normal human with a vendetta. With a sense of morbid curiosity, she made little effort to stop herself from reading through the article, although she did feel relief upon reading that Mr. Winters was left alive, as promised, and the man ran to the police as soon as the assailant was gone. What made her raise an eyebrow, however, were the details he gave to the police about what the suspect had said to them, but before she could think it through, she came across the comments section of the article as her hand kept scrolling down, and her attention was drawn by what she assumed was just one bad apple.

 _"good to see more confirmation that the witch is dead"_

With a slight frown, she scrolled down further, only to see too many similar anonymous comments.

 _"haha, so he cut her tongue off cause even in that situation she couldn't stop bitching and blaming her bf? That's funny"_

 _"this guy got to do what many people who's lives have been ruined by murkoff dream of doing, and if you think that's too harsh, do some damn research, murkoff is vile"_

 _"These comments are making me lose faith in humanity, are you people serious? Someone was murdered, and you think that's fine because she was doing a job you don't approve of? Jesus"_

 _"So many people defending her, have you people even seen that asylum video to see what monster you're defending, what SHE was trying to defend? I bet you wouldn't be so quick to jump to her rescue if one of your loved ones was among those patients"_

 _"This guy's most prolly an ex patient, not really surprised he did this after watching the asylum video, these guys have been through hell. Reap what you sow, murkoff"_

 _"My sister was taken to Mount Massive five years ago. Never to be seen again, unless you count the unique tattoo I recognized on her dismembered arm, crammed up in a room with a pile of rotting corpses in the asylum. Don't believe me? The video proof is online, or wait, did they take it down for the thousandth time today? Fuck these people, I hope hell exists just so they will burn, and I hope they don't catch this guy."_

 _"I'm so sorry for your sister, and I hope they don't catch him either, as long as he only terrorizes Murkoff-"_

Alyssa closed the lid of the laptop before leaning down on her back with a groan, raising her arm over her eyes, slightly bothered by the bright lights above, and sighed softly. Once again, she was only presented with some harsh, unpleasant realities that gave her mixed feelings which she was more than tired of. After a stretch, she decided to not linger on her emotions again, and instead get some questions answered.

Springing out of bed, she stepped towards the door with the laptop in her arms, but nearly dropped it when she reached for the knob, only to see it twist seemingly by itself. Her heart thumped slightly harder mostly out of instinct, until she relaxed as the Walrider attempted to float into the room, and she didn't realize she was in his way until he spoke

"Am I.. unwelcome?"

"Huh?" Alyssa blinked, bringing her mind away from her puzzling thoughts and back to the present moment "O-oh, no, no, actually I was gonna look for you." With little hesitation, she grabbed his partially skeletal hand and pulled him towards the bed, his eyebrow rose when she slightly bent down towards it, until she revealed the laptop she placed on the mattress, lifted its lid and spoke up "Just check this out."

She briefly scrolled the screen up, until it displayed recognizable images, and turned to him, trying not to sound accusatory in her tone "It's.. the cops released these, stills from the security cameras inside the house. Which.. I thought you were going to disable?"

To her surprise, the Walrider replied almost immediately, in a matter-of-factly manner "I neglected to tell you, I left that footage for the police, I gave them, and Murkoff, a suspect to chase, a false one, it ought to keep them busy on the wrong track of their investigation."

Alyssa's expression brightened, and she slowly nodded in understanding, her gaze shifting back to the laptop "Oh, thank god, I thought you forgot about the cameras."

"I do not forget, especially not such important details. My mind is not a disorganized clutter. Unlike.." his answer came swiftly in a less than serious condescending tone, and it didn't take her more than a quick glance to notice his sharp grey pupils eyeing her down purposefully.

Briefly taken aback by his comment, a pout grew on Alyssa's face, she stepped up to him with faux outrage, not looking up while she stared at him, barely reaching up to his chest. Raising one finger, she playfully poked him as she spoke with clearly feigned seriousness "N-now listen here, mister…"

Her attempt to follow up with a witty remark was interrupted by the deep sound coming from him, resembling less of a growl and more of a low purr, albeit with a rather unsettling slight echo which raised a few hairs on the back of her neck. Before frightening memories from their first meeting at the asylum could resurface, a small yelp escaped her as he suddenly reached down to grab her rear and lifted her up, holding her hips above his, raising her at near eye level. With her legs dangling in the air, she quickly grabbed onto his shoulders and leaned onto him for support, then mentally scrambled to resume her previous search for a witty reply.

"The 'deaths of the innocent', huh?" Alyssa took a teasing tone with a slight smirk, quickly remembering and alluding to what he had said to the lawyer that night as she leaned back to look at him, but only noticed a mostly blank, somewhat puzzled expression, until his eyebrows briefly rose as it clicked in his mind that the woman's boyfriend must have told the police every word he said in that house, which ended up online in news articles.

Her courageous attitude and smirk were rather immediately shut down when his large clawed hands briefly squeezed her rear cheeks tightly, drawing a short sound out of her that seemed like a mixture of surprise and a playfully frustrated moan. She lowered her face into the crook of his neck, but it wasn't allowed to rest there for longer than a few moments, soon feeling a small invisible swarm gently pull her back by the hair and push it away from her neck, making room for him. As she felt the sensation of his smooth tongue traveling from her neck upwards, teasingly slowly, she couldn't contain a soft moan, and made no effort to prevent her hands from sliding over his firm but silky shoulders, loosely clasping her fingers together on his back.

"As I said, a facade meant to mislead. For the most part." He spoke casually as his tongue continued trailing towards her lips, although she was too distracted to offer any reply, instead opting to turn her head so their lips would meet quicker.

Just before contact, they both froze and she flinched in his arms when a sudden bang was heard on the door, followed by a familiar, slightly raspy voice

"Hey! Alyssa, you in there? Getting late, trying to heat up some pizza for dinner but it won't fit in the small-ass microwave and I can't figure out how to turn on that damn weird oven, gimme a hand, will ya." Billy shouted from behind the door, his voice beginning to distance as he stepped away, towards the kitchen.

Before the Walrider could snap at the interruption, Alyssa unintentionally took advantage of his relatively looser grip to slide down and step away from him, swinging the door open and rushing after Billy, raising her voice in an attempt to prevent him from doing anything stupid before she arrived

"Dammit, wait, Billy. Pizza again? I bought a bunch of food, have something else."

When she walked into the kitchen, she slightly recoiled at the sight of Billy trying to stuff a large pizza into the relatively small microwave oven, she stepped over to him and he didn't resist as she pushed him away from it.

"Stop it, you'll just make a huge mess!" she removed the broken crust and messy pizza from the oven, paying little attention to Billy, who crossed his arms and spoke in protest as she grabbed paper towels to clean the inside of the microwave

"Gee, fine, _mom_ , what do we eat then?"

In the bedroom, the Walrider's would-be eye twitched in annoyance, but he slowly floated out of the room, making an effort to not slam the door too hard with the swarm behind him.

As Alyssa reached up into the kitchen cabinets to grab ingredients for food preparation, a realization struck her seemingly out of nowhere, how a mere, rather playful encounter with the Walrider appeared to change her bleak, somber mood, struggling with conflicting emotions again, into an almost cheerful state, temporarily lifting the weight of her worries off her shoulders. The thought made her movements slow considerably, she couldn't deny that there was a sense of unease and turmoil in her realization due to the nature of their so-called assignments and his deeds, but she also wondered what implications it had.

When Billy drew her attention with a question about what they were preparing, however, she snapped out of her partial trance, and decided to push away the negative feelings that she grew more than tired of, and instead focus on the task at hand.

That night, she wasn't surprised that she couldn't fall asleep until almost the crack of dawn, only after twisting and turning for hours while her mind remained unable to clear the concerns that had returned with a vengeance. Upon waking up with a vague feeling of unpleasant dreams, instead of trying to remember, she ignored the fleeting memories for the short time required to completely forget them.

This time, she sat by herself in the kitchen, slowly eating breakfast cereal, as her smartphone played videos in an attempt to distract herself and block the tiring stressful worries from the previous day. When she heard a series of rapid knocks on the door of the penthouse, however, she instantly stopped chewing and her hearing perked up, her attention further sparked by the large familiar shadow floating by the door, in the direction of the apartment entrance.

Already assuming that one of the Pauls must have returned, she dropped the spoon into the cereal bowl with a soft clink, quickly stood up and rushed into the bedroom where she grabbed her bandanna and placed it to obscure her face. The thought occurred to her that perhaps this was becoming unnecessary, seeing that they already had to trust the undercover Murkoff agents, but decided the question could wait for another time.

As expected, she was met with Paul near the doors, handing over his concealed pistol to the Walrider, although she couldn't help noticing the look of agitation on the man's face, even more so when he spoke in a quick manner, unusual from his typical calm, almost aloof tone

"I don't have much time, I have information, but we have to make this quick, please." He glanced towards the living room, and the Walrider raised a suspicious eyebrow, but floated out of his way, signaling him to move.

As soon as Paul took a seat, he spoke up without further questions as he opened his briefcase on the coffee table

"First off, I have to say I hadn't been able to gather much until Pauline started helping me with this job, we're still at it, which is part of the reason why I'm here: we need a few more days." The man started, then rose his hands up in defense and continued upon noticing the frown forming on the Walrider's face "Like I said, we have something! But this is not like the other, you're not gonna be able to sneak in there and break their necks, we have a plan. Well, frankly, Pauline does, if it hadn't been for her I don't think I'd have this information."

"What are you talking about, Mr. Marion?" Alyssa interjected, her concerns beginning to rise at the alleged fact that things seemed to be more difficult and different this time around.

"You gave me options, pick the target, yes? So I did, but this choice comes with an opportunity, a very, very important one, if you're interested." Paul stated, throwing a glance at the other two, who in turn looked at each other curiously.

"Listening." The Walrider spoke up after a brief pause, and the man nodded.

With some haste, he began looking through his briefcase "The attorney meant to replace Mrs. Mannon after her, uh, terrible tragedy, is Mr. Nathan Frazier." On the table, he placed a photograph of a man appearing in his early forties, slightly tan, black haired and blue eyed, wearing a dark suit, shaking hands with an older man as they both smiled at the camera "Mr. Frazier is to arrive from his vacation and get involved in the trial next week, but before he goes back to work, he's hosting an invitation-only party at his private estate, quite some distance from Denver, not that it would be a problem. Now, Mr. Frazier is a sort of.. collector, I guess, he displays his wealth in public as much as he can, but the rest, he keeps in a very secure safe room inside his manor, the same manor the party will take place in. Sort of like a personal museum, I suppose-"

"Get to the point." The Walrider suddenly interjected, making the man scramble through his briefcase until he placed another photograph, of a large villa, in front of them on the table

"As I said, with Mr. Frazier, we have an opportunity. Thanks to Pauline, we've been able to learn that among the fat stacks of money, gold, jewelry, stolen ancient paintings and whatever other stuff he has in his safe room, he also keeps a laptop loaded with.. well, again, this man seems to like to preserve his past in ways that could destroy him, while helping us."

When he noticed the Walrider lean towards him from his seat with a deepening scowl, Paul quickly spoke up in a more hurried tone "Video evidence of abuse. This man keeps videos of himself sexually abusing people."

Then, it was Alyssa's turn to frown, her jaw slightly dropped upon hearing his blunt words, although her unease wasn't too noticeable behind the bandanna. Next to her, the Walrider raised a suspicious eyebrow and spoke before Paul

"It doesn't matter. He comes back to work for Murkoff, he dies, simple as that. We don't need him in prison, we need him in pieces."

"I wasn't done. What about Jeremy Blaire?" the agent questioned, his demeanor relaxing upon noticing the apparent interest in both of them "Mr. Frazier is nowhere near as well known, a video of himself engaging in such criminal acts could be useful, even after he's dead, but Blaire? You would never hear the end of it, on television, on the internet, on the damn radio, it would bring so much negative attention towards Murkoff."

"Don't tell me Blaire is on tape with Frazier doing.. things like that?" Alyssa asked wide-eyed, hardly believing what he was implying, but to her surprise, the man did nod, with a small smirk on top.

"Oh my god…" she whispered in disbelief more to herself before turning to the Walrider "Do you.. realize what that would mean? Blaire on video abusing people? He's like, one of the most well recognized Murkoff people, he gives speeches at the most prestigious science and technology events, h-he's one of the faces of the corporation, if we could.. oh my god.." Alyssa's voice faded as visions of extensive police investigations into the corporation that would uncover its dark underbelly and put an end to it rushed through her mind.

The Walrider seemed interested as well, albeit more skeptical and less optimistic "You learned this with Pauline?"

Paul nodded with some enthusiasm "Like I said, wouldn't have gotten this far without her."

"Wh.. wait. How would we even.. I mean, as good as it sounds to get some groundbreaking incriminating evidence like that, how the heck would we even begin to do it? You said it's some private party far away with invitations only?" Alyssa questioned once her excitement was replaced with more rational concerns.

At her words, the agent's enthusiasm seemed to die down "Yes, well.. This is why I said we need a bit more time. I'll try to put it as short as possible." After a discreet exhale, he leaned back in his armchair as he spoke "We've been able to track down some close friends of Mr. Frazier who will attend his party, their invitations should arrive to their homes soon, and serve us well." Upon seeing the puzzled expressions on the both of them, he continued, trying to sound as confident as he could "Perhaps you've already figured this isn't some, uh, colorful balloons and confetti party. This is a masked, black tie event where powerful people rendezvous under the comfort of relative anonymity."

Both the man's words and considerably more serious tone of voice made Alyssa tense up as more worries began to occupy her mind, but she listened carefully as he spoke

"Pauline and I learned that Mr. Frazier's friends, Vincent and Lydia Miller, as well as Caleb and Susannah Rawlins, will be having their own little barbecue get-together within a few days, their invitations should be at their homes by then, and it will only be a matter of collecting them, as well as their masks and attires, unless you want to buy your own, we're not yet sure if they talked to anyone about what they're gonna wear, and if it'll be suspicious if 'they' appear wearing something else."

Alyssa's dread already began growing as he spoke, but once he raised his fingers to put the word 'they' in quotations, she felt her heart drop in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh.." she whispered barely audibly before making an effort to raise her voice "Please don't tell me you want us to do what I think you want us to do…"

A deep exhale left the agent, who nodded solemnly after a few moments "I'm afraid we have no other options if you're to get your hands on a video of Blaire participating in heinous crimes and put it online for the world to see, miss. You two are to steal the invitations, infiltrate the party, break into the safe room, and steal the laptop. As well as eliminate Mr. Frazier, of course… I highly recommend a non-direct approach, whatever you do, don't set off any alarms, the whole operation would go much smoother that way. Pauline and I will help as much as we can. This is what we have so far.. unless, of course, either of you have a better idea."

Alyssa's head slowly dropped to rest on her palm, hardly believing what she was hearing "This is.. no, just no-"

"It will-" the Walrider turned to her with a somewhat strict tone, but she raised her voice without even fully realizing it

"No! L-listen, it's one thing for me to sit around while you sneak into someone's house and rid the world of some corrupt scumbag, but.. are you hearing Paul? How are we gonna steal their invitations, how are we gonna imitate them without looking suspicious, how are we not gonna blow our cover, how are we gonna get into his safe, a-and the laptop, isn't that shit encrypted?" she turned to look at Paul, and wasn't surprised when he nodded, but ever-so-slightly less anxious when he spoke up with confidence

"Don't worry about the encryption, Pauline and I will take care of it. Blowing your cover wouldn't be a big risk since the masks usually cover half or more of the face and you might not stumble upon someone who knows the people you're impersonating and notice your voices are different. Cracking into the safe, we'll help with that too, as for stealing the invitations.. well, that's the more, uh.. sensitive topic. As I said, the two couples will have a small evening barbecue party of their own, so since they will get together, that will be.. to put it lightly, another 'opportunity'."

At that, Alyssa stared at the agent blankly for a few moments, until a frown began growing on her face as it clicked in her mind what he was implying. She slowly shook her head, noticing a slight sense of dizziness

"Jesus Christ.. do you really mean four more people dead, on top of the lawyer?"

"Not necessarily." Paul interjected with some haste "It would be easier to remove them and not have to worry about them later, sure, getting rid of bodies would not be a problem, but.. if you'd rather not, we could just, I don't know, tie them up and toss them into the back of a van until the party's over and mission accomplished. As long as they don't know who did it, they won't be able to tell anything useful to the cops and by then Frazier should be done and his laptop on this table." He shrugged, and almost immediately Alyssa sighed a deep exhale of relief and spoke up

"Yes! Christ, yes, that's it, that's the right answer, thank you. Right?" she turned to look at the Walrider, who said nothing for a few seconds, his silence returning her unease until he finally leaned back on the sofa and spoke towards her

"What kind of people attend these types of events? What kind of people would a corrupt, filthy rich rapist surround himself with? You know, don't you?"

It was his turn to receive a quiet stare of disbelief, a light frown set on her face as she shook her head at him, yet it was the look in her eyes that made him pause, a mix of fear and distaste.

"I.. know.." she finally found her words, but turned her gaze away towards the floor "If you want to kill as many people as possible so badly, go on, I can't stop you.." she whispered somberly, but he replied in a rather neutral, almost casual tone

"I don't. Just figured I'd rid the world of more corrupt scumbags, as you put it." the Walrider turned to Paul "We will incapacitate them until the job is done."

At that, Alyssa had to admit, her sense of dread diminished considerably by the fact that more blood spillage would be avoided.

The man nodded, although he then seemed unsettled by another matter "Won't be an issue. However.. what could be an issue, is the locking mechanism on the safe room. From what we understand, it's highly secure, even by Murkoff standards, which brings us the problem: Pauline and I can't find a way to crack it in just a few days, it's simply too complex and time consuming for just two people to work on.." Noticing the frowns on their faces, the man continued "But for some good news, after some deeper digging, we've found out that Mr. Frazier has a backup security system, one that, in theory, we could get around. It seems that he and his wife are still.. close, to the point that he had the backup system set up as two simultaneous fingerprint scanners on opposite sides of the doors to the safe room, which are, mind you, quite wide, obviously done on purpose so that two people, he and his wife, would be needed to disengage the lock."

"Good. Bring me their fingerprints, I will shape them from nanites." The Walrider stated simply, but Paul shook his head slowly, drawing looks of confusion from him and Alyssa.

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy, the fingerprint scanner may be less advanced than the main system, but it's still leagues above the common things on the market. It's specifically designed to detect live tissue, skin temperature, heartbeats, in order to prevent rubber fakes from cheating it open. As well as to reject dismembered hands…"

A long sigh left Alyssa as she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes in defeat "As if it didn't sound insanely hard enough already…"

Paul nodded reflectively "Afraid so. The scanners won't register the prints made out of nanites, even if they're identical, and even if he copied their fingerprints onto yours, you wouldn't reach both scanners at the same time. Which leaves us with only one option…"

His voice faded, slightly unsettled by the deep rumble coming from the Walrider before he finished the agent's sentence "We need one more human."

Again, Paul nodded in agreement, the conclusion sparking Alyssa's attention. For longer than she realized, she thought the situation through again, and as insane and dangerous as it still seemed, she simply couldn't rid her mind of exciting and joy-inducing visions of extensive investigations being started by the police into Blaire, which would lead to uncovering the dark underbelly of the corporation, all due to the evidence on that laptop locked far away.

"I can't believe I'm actually considering doing this willingly… But even if we did it, who else do we bring? What other person can we trust? I'll just say it right now, I don't recommend Billy, I'm sorry, but I don't think he'd take this seriously and he could blow up the whole thing." Alyssa sat up slowly and looked towards the bar in the back of the living room "Would you like a drink, Mr. Marion? Maybe help ease up the mood."

"Sure, thank you." Paul stated, partially lost in search for a solution to the new problem, and Alyssa walked over to the bar, although still able to hear the conversation on the sofas.

"Billy is out of the question, not only would he not take his role seriously, but he is too mentally unstable as well." the Walrider said thoughtfully before glancing to the agent "You. Or Pauline. No other options."

Somewhat surprisingly, the man almost immediately shook his head in refusal "If you want us dead, sure. Mr. Frazier isn't the only Murkoff employee attending the party, we've checked the guest list, there's people Pauline and I know personally, masks or not, we'd be too recognizable to them, our voices, our figures.. No, trust me, it's not worth the risk, if they suspect us even a little, they'd look into it and we'd be as good as dead."

The gravelly exhale from the Walrider slightly uneased the agent, but he took the glass of wine that Alyssa returned with and offered as she sat back down next to the swarm with her own glass

"Funny, at first I thought finding invitations will be an issue, but no.. we've got four of them and four people to keep quiet until after the party, the problem is finding someone willing to shut their mouth and do as they're told for a night." Paul said with some bitter amusement and noticeable pessimism as he took a swig from his drink while the others remained thoughtfully quiet.

A few seconds later, the man spoke again, seemingly more to himself rather than sharing an idea "Pauline and I have subordinates.. junior detectives working under us.. Not well known in the corporation. Perhaps…"

Alyssa quickly shook her head after a sip from her glass "No way, I'm sorry Mr. Marion but trusting you and Pauline is hard enough, no offense, I really don't think it's a good idea to bring in any outsider, especially Murkoff employees."

"Out of the question, no more of your associates." the Walrider stated, easing up some of Alyssa's worries.

A vague, thoughtful nod came from the agent, still mentally preoccupied in search for a solution to the impasse "Yeah, don't like it either, just thinking out loud here.."

To Alyssa, it felt like minutes passed, the silence only interrupted by the rare suggestions or idea, only to be rather quickly dismissed. As her mind thought the situation over again, she tried to ignore the persisting concerns, and decided to address a new issue she stumbled upon

"Security cameras? Mr. Marion?"

The man barely seemed to react to her question, replying a few seconds later as he appeared to stare at nothing in particular while his mind sought a solution "Hm?.. Yeah.. We'll hack them, don't worry.."

Slightly relieved at his words, she exhaled softly and leaned back in her seat, attempting to help the others with the persistent problem. Much to her chagrin, a few more minutes passed discussing more minor details, but they still came up empty to the main issue. Just as she was about to stretch and groan in frustration, she turned to the Walrider, his words making her do a double-take

"Mr. Marion.. Where is Waylon Park?"

The agent seemed to be slightly taken off guard by his question at first, but he straightened up and spoke after additional questions "Where is Park and his family, what does Murkoff know of their recent whereabouts? Have you any information on that?"

"Seeing as I'm assigned to find them, I'd be a pretty lousy detective if I didn't have any." He downed the rest of his drink before continuing "The Parks have been located about four days ago, roughly a hundred miles east of Denver. You shouldn't be surprised that an assassination attempt has been carried out on them. It wasn't successful though, it was.." the man's voice trailed off briefly as a light frown set on his face, noticeably uncomfortable with what he spoke "the children were hurt the most, they were rushed to the nearest hospital, where we lost them. Don't ask how, we've got no idea when and how but they must've managed to sneak out of the hospital undetected, despite keeping our cameras on it twenty-four seven, we saw nothing suspicious. That was when we lost track of them."

The man's words felt as if they lifted a great weight off of Alyssa's shoulders, the confirmation that Waylon had been right in his assertion that they hadn't been followed was more than relieving

"Thank god.. But.. are you really considering..?" her voice faded as her wide eyes looked to the Walrider in disbelief, albeit with noticeable joy and excitement in her tone.

On the other hand, he appeared less than enthusiastic about it, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he spoke "There are no better options… Park is not an outsider, he knows Murkoff, he understands what consequences they could face if such evidence is released."

"It's quite the risk, though." Paul interjected "I understand your lady friend here would be safe with you, but Park? It would be odd for him to appear alone, so his wife should join him, but they'd pretty much be going into the wasp's nest with only a mask standing between them and Murkoff, even if it is to get our hands on Blaire's dirty secrets, I don't know how willing they'd be to get on board.."

As unpleasant as the agent's statements were, Alyssa had to admit, he had a fair point, but the Walrider spoke up before she could express her agreement

"Don't fret, Mr. Marion.. The car bomb your colleagues planted ensured one of Park's brats will never walk again. Unless, of course, I have a say in that matter."

His words seemed to surprise both her and the man, who raised a curious eyebrow

"You've spoken to Park.. I see.." he took a brief pause before clearing his throat "That's quite an offer, the risk remains, but.. yes, I don't think he's gonna refuse that one.." the man's voice trailed off thoughtfully, while Alyssa could hardly believe what she was hearing, despite the fact that the Walrider seemed less than eager to get the Parks involved, she was elated at the possibility of him fixing the otherwise irreversible damage that Murkoff inflicted upon Waylon's son in an effort to kill the child's father for his act of whistleblowing.

"I trust Murkoff will know nothing if you are to meet Park and his family next time you arrive here." The Walrider asked, and Paul quickly nodded

"Naturally, as long as Pauline and I are concerned, they'd be invisible to us. Just make sure they get here by whatever means they managed to sneak out of that hospital without being noticed, last thing I want is to take the blame for Park being caught."

"They will, no worries!" Alyssa interjected with conflicting feelings of excitement and relief at the fact that the family would be able to come to the safety of the penthouse, while the fear and anxiousness over the incoming assignment remained in her mind.

"Very well, contact them when you want. This reminds me, though." Paul slowly reached into the pocket of his coat, placing two flip phones on the table "I understand meeting in person is the safest way, but there may be emergencies when we might need to get in contact as soon as possible. I guarantee these phones are untraceable, no one will hear what we talk except the person on the other end, so please, just in case."

The agent pushed one of the phones towards the two, then placed the other back in his pocket, and a slightly amused exhale left Alyssa, but she reached for the offered phone

"I have something like this with Mr. Park, I trust it's secure too, otherwise we probably wouldn't be sitting here now. Thanks, good idea Mr. Marion."

Paul nodded once at her statement "You may trust Park's gadgets but I don't, so please keep that and contact me when needed. Now, I think this is all we've got for the time being, like I said, we need a bit more to get the fingerprints, set up and prepare further."

"How much?" the Walrider suddenly asked, his question answered almost immediately

"Two days. At most, three, but two should suffice." the man replied as he stood up, followed by the others, and made their way to the apartment doors.

After briefly discussing a few more details, the agent's weapon was returned to him, and he discreetly took his leave.

As soon as the door was closed and locked behind him, Alyssa suddenly jumped on the Walrider, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight embrace with a smile as her feet dangled above the floor. Even though he was taken off guard, he placed an arm around her back to support her, but she spoke before he could express his confusion

"Thank you for offering to help Waylon's son, seriously, I was floored when I found out what happened to the poor kid because the bastards tried to kill his father."

He raised a curious eyebrow at her gratitude "Have I not said our options are limited at best?" and a soft exhale left her

"Yeah, I know.. But still, you could've, I don't know, threatened to cripple his wife too or something like that." Alyssa said as she slid off of him and slowly began heading towards the bedroom, then almost tripped over her own feet when he responded with a hint of enthusiasm

"Now _there's_ a better idea."

"Nooo!" a short chuckle left her as she increased her pace towards the bedroom, where she picked up the phone Waylon had given her, but paused before dialing the man. When she glanced behind her, she noticed the Walrider watching her with a somewhat questioning look

"Sorry, I.." Alyssa started, shifting her gaze back to the phone "This is still a lot for me to take in, now I have to explain it to someone else, have to think how to make it clear and short."

Unbeknownst to her, he briefly and discreetly rolled his eyes and slightly shrugged before extending his hand towards her. His gesture somewhat surprised her, but with little hesitation, she pressed the dial button and handed him the phone. From her close distance, she could hear the ringing, followed by Waylon's voice when he eventually answered, so she remained near

"Hey, Alyssa?"

"Not quite." the Walrider's low gravelly voice was followed by a few quiet seconds from the other end, until the man spoke in a noticeably unnerved and confused tone

"You're.. What do you want?"

"How are your children, Park?"

Again, Waylon sounded more puzzled and uneasy at the mention of his children by what he only barely knew as the dangerous homicidal entity that escaped from the asylum

"What's it to you?.."

"How does your son walking again sound? I could do that, you know I can undo the otherwise irreversible damage Murkoff did, you won't find a doctor in the world that can make your child walk again, Park, but I could. Are you interested?"

His words were followed by a few seconds of stunned and confused silence from the other end, and when the man replied, he did so almost in a whisper, his tone skeptical and suspicious

"Why would you do that? What's the catch?"

Alyssa's previous brief joyful mood was rather quickly replaced by a dead serious one at the situation, but she remained quiet and listened

"The catch is that you and your wife must accompany Alyssa and I to a party where you will help us steal a laptop containing incriminating evidence on Jeremy Blaire."

Again, a few moments of shocked silence came from the other end of the line before Waylon spoke with disbelief

"W-what the f.. What party, how the heck are we supposed to do that, and Blaire? How do you know all that?"

"Our informants have been invaluable, we will discuss the details once you arrive, Murkoff did lose track of you at the hospital, so use that tactic again to come here undetected, the same Denver hotel we have booked before, penthouse suite, if you want your brat to ever walk again. Tick tock, Park."

Before Waylon could break from his stunned silence, the Walrider hung up the phone and gently tossed it to Alyssa, who placed it on the bed stand.

"Well, that's one way to make it short and to the point, I guess." She bit her lip with concern, but before following him out of the room, she quickly changed her mind and grabbed the phone from the bed stand, placing it in her pocket "He might call again, hopefully to let us know they decided to come, some heated discussion probably already began between him and Lisa."


	40. Chapter 40

**So uh, I guess I'm back, for the time being.. The reason why this is chapter 40 now is because I made some changes, I put a short note explaining at the beginning of the first chapter if anyone wants to check.**

* * *

The rest of the day felt frustratingly long to Alyssa, even her feelings mildly irritated her due to how confusing they were, normally, she would be anxious about what was to come, which she still was, but at the same time, she couldn't ignore the bizarre sense of excitement within her.

 _ _Jesus, what are you excited for? This plan is still insane and dangerous, it could go so wrong and we would all pay for it.__ She let her thoughts run as she laid on the living room sofa, staring at the ceiling, while the television played on a music channel in the background at a low volume. __But god, what if it doesn't? What if we make it? The Parks come here where it's safe, he's gonna fix that poor kid's spine, and we're gonna freakin' ruin Blaire with the video on that laptop!__

Alyssa bit her lip to stop the smirk that grew on her face.

 _ _Dammit, don't get too ahead of yourself now, let's just focus on trying to increase our chances as much as possible.__

The question of what she could actually do to increase their chances of success arose, the cogs in her mind spun for a short bit, but then stopped when she realized she would need external information in order to get prepared, such as knowing how the woman she was going to impersonate sounded and acted like, information she couldn't get without the help of the Pauls.

 _ _Kinda late for acting classes anyway..__

When she thought of the Park family again, the realization struck her that Waylon still didn't know who their informants were, she imagined how he would react if he found out, and it was not a pleasant scenario in the slightest, she shook her head at the mental images, deciding to leave that problem for another time.

That night, she wasn't surprised at all that she couldn't get any good sleep, she kept waking up at seemingly random times for no apparent reason, and almost automatically, her mind would return to the dangerous plan ahead, only making it more difficult to fall back asleep.

The next day, she felt like she could finally catch a break, more or less, since while her mind was more clear, she was still occasionally interrupted by negative thoughts and scenarios of how things could go horribly wrong, which she had to keep dismissing and reminding herself that there was no use in getting worried and stressed about it at the time.

As she laid on the bed, no longer able to distract herself by watching television, the intrusive feelings disturbing her peace were beginning to irritate her, to the point that she half seriously wished they could start taking the steps necessary towards getting that laptop, partly so the lengthy wait would stop bothering her.

Only minutes later, she regretted her wish as she jumped out of bed when she suddenly heard an unfamiliar ringing sound. At first, she considered it was the phone from Waylon, until she remembered its ringing sound was entirely different, then, upon locating the origin of the noise inside a drawer, she realized it was the phone that Paul had given her.

Her puzzled expression rather quickly turned into a concerned one, she swallowed, picked up the phone and ran with it into the living room, only to find it empty

"Dammit!" she cussed under her breath, but answered the call "Mr. Marion?" she spoke cautiously as she approached the balcony, where, to her relief, she spotted the Walrider next to the railing.

Pauline's voice coming from the other end of the line took her off guard "No, I'm waiting for you guys outside, come on."

A confused frown set on Alyssa's face at the woman's words, she approached the Walrider and signaled him to the phone, which he took from her after she set it on speaker

"Report." he simply said into the device, and was slightly surprised to hear Pauline's voice instead of Paul's.

"I said I'm waiting for you assholes outside, come on, you need to get those invitations."

"Outside? Details, woman."

An exhale was faintly heard from the other end before she spoke "I'm in a white van on the ground level of the parking lot right outside the hotel, right behind the corner, and I'm wearing a disguise, but the girl better get her face mask too, just in case. Hurry up, we got some distance to cover."

"Understood." the Walrider glanced towards Alyssa, who already looked more than a little worried "Go."

She only nodded as she hanged up the phone, returned to the bedroom and began hurriedly gathering everything she needed before leaving.

 _ _God dammit, it's already happening? Tsk, come on, you were asking for it.. Let's just hope it won't be worse than sitting around waiting while fighting off mini panic episodes.__

After putting her backpack on and bandanna around her neck, she double checked that she hadn't forgotten anything, then, after some mental self-encouragement, stepped out of the bedroom and towards the exit doors. The fact that she didn't see the Walrider already waiting for her confused her, she turned around and began stepping away from the door, ready to quickly look for him around the apartment, until she was stopped when an invisible hand grabbed her jacket, twisted her around and shoved her towards the exit in a series of quick motions that briefly made her lose balance and let out a short squeal

"Let's go." his disembodied voice simply said, ignoring her pout

"Hey, easier with the manhandling!" Alyssa protested as she waited for the cloud of nanites to exit the apartment before locking the door behind them and getting in the elevator.

As they descended, she felt somewhat odd at seeing that she appeared to be by herself, despite the fact that he was next to her but in dissipated swarm form, she cleared her throat and spoke up

"Why are you.. I mean why don't you make yourself look human as usual?"

"We will be accompanying Pauline, stealth is of the essence."

Alyssa swallowed, feeling uncomfortable about what she wanted to say, needing to make an effort to get her words out

"But.. what about me?"

In return, she only received a sense of confusion and expectancy, so she continued "I.. feel safer when you're next to me. Like, appear next to me, you know what I mean.."

Only a few quiet moments passed, which, to Alyssa, felt like too long, until she heard the disembodied voice too close to her ear

"I will break anyone who touches you, regardless of my form."

It made her step away towards the wall of the cabin as a nervous giggle left her

"H-how romantic…"

"Romance is not my strong point." he stated plainly, and Alyssa couldn't resist commenting under her breath

"Yeah, your strong point is killing people."

But his reply came almost instantly "And saving them."

"Right, right, what's the kill-to-save count again? Three hundred to three?

A brief silence occupied the cabin before the swarm spoke in the same neutral tone

"Approximately."

Alyssa didn't know if she suppressed a chuckle more out of nervousness, but she shook her head and remained quiet as the elevator reached the ground floor.

Once she stepped outside the hotel, she couldn't help the sense of apprehension that overcame her, despite the fact that the sun was still up and it appeared to be a pleasant day, she couldn't shake the ominous feel of the situation. With a deep exhale, she pushed herself to keep walking towards the parking lot where the undercover Murkoff agent was waiting for them.

Right before the large entrance to the lot, her legs began slowing down drastically almost by themselves, to the point that she felt an invisible hand on the small of her back pushing her forward, and then heard the voice in her head

 ** _ _ **Remember, no casualties today.**__**

Alyssa swallowed, briefly closing her eyes and nodded, before increasing her walking pace. Suddenly, from behind a corner stepped out a woman who quickly signaled in her direction to approach, before disappearing back behind the large concrete wall.

Throwing a glance behind and around, she confirmed that it couldn't have been anyone else, so she increased her pace yet again, deciding there was no point to bother with her bandanna anymore when it came to the Pauls. As expected, behind the wall she was met with Pauline, whose attire took her by surprise, the woman who she'd only seen in business suits before was wearing jean overalls, a striped shirt, brown boots, a ball cap and a pair of large sunglasses that nearly covered the entire upper half of her face.

"What?" Pauline questioned as she leaned against the white van upon noticing the brief odd look Alyssa gave her, who shook her head an shrugged "There's a little something called blending in, I'm gonna need this for where we're going."

At that, a mildly concerned expression grew on Alyssa's face "And.. where exactly might that be?" she spoke as she watched the woman walk towards the back of the van and open its back doors, before pausing and exhaling deeply

"Obviously, our dear mister Vincent and lady Lydia Miller wouldn't take their invitations anywhere but at the party, they're at their home here in the city, the invitations, that is, we're gonna go there first, he-" Pauline suddenly paused and placed her hands on her hips as she looked around "he __is__ here, right?"

"Hurry it up." the disembodied voice of the Walrider spoke with a faint echo, and the woman squinted as she tried to pinpoint the direction it came from, before giving up and suppressing a small shudder.

" _ _So,__ first we stop by the Millers' apartment, he takes the invitations," Pauline paused again as she reached into the back of the van and pulled a brown leather suitcase from it "Might as well take the damn party costumes too while we're at it, one less thing to worry about, and then we're heading out to the country side, where the Rawlins' villa is, where they're having their own little party with the Millers that we're gonna crash. __Discreetly__ , that is." She tossed the empty suitcase back into the van before turning to Alyssa "Any questions?"

"I.. guess not. Gotta say though, I'm not looking forward to sitting next to you for a long drive.." only after she spoke did she realize how rude her words were, and while she didn't like Pauline, she couldn't help herself from clarifying "I mean, I don't think it's safe."

The woman only shrugged, then took a step back and opened the door of the back of the van wider "There's no windows here, apart from the one in the front."

Upon having a look inside and noticing the clean, spacious interior and bench on each side of the interior of the vehicle, Alyssa decided it was better than sitting next to the Murkoff agent, both due to how unpleasant she could be, but mostly for safety reasons

"Yeah, screw it, this is better, the less we can be seen together, even with disguises, the better."

As she hopped in and the woman got in the driver seat, she noticed how the light inside got slightly dimmer as the cloud of nanites flowed in, and the doors slammed seemingly by themselves. She threw a glance towards the open window separating the two front seats and the back of the vehicle, and saw Pauline adjusting the rear view mirror, then turning the engine on.

Taking a seat as the car started moving, she let out a deep sigh and only hoped things were going to go according to plan.

The more they drove around the city, the more paranoid Alyssa became, she couldn't prevent herself from discreetly glancing out the front window and through the windshield repeatedly, even though it raised her anxiety every time, and the fact that the Walrider still hadn't made a physical presence next to her was of no consolation either.

"Are we there yet?" She poked her face through the window and asked Pauline yet again, whose shoulders slumped and she sighed in annoyance, annoyance which she did not hide from her tone of voice

"Stop pestering me already, it's only been what, twenty minutes, this city is huge and the traffic sucks right now, what do you want? Sit down and shut up."

Alyssa only frowned at her words, she understood that her questioning, only born from anxiety and fear for their safety, could get annoying, but she didn't think the woman's rudeness was a necessity. Still, she sat back down on the bench and rested her head in her palm as she tried to relax when the van stopped at a red light yet again.

"Hey, swarm." Pauline's voice drew their attention some minutes later "Get over here, if you aren't already, and close the window, gotta tell you a few things that might be too much for miss-sensitivity here."

"Hey get bent, Pauline!" Alyssa suddenly snapped in her direction, raising her voice "Just because I don't like your fucked up world where you kill and torture people and I'm forced to participate in it, it doesn't make me overly sensitive." Her outburst even slightly surprised herself, but she was already nervous and frightened of what they were doing at the time, and even more so of the extremely dangerous infiltration they had to perform in the near future, she did not need anyone's condescending attitude, especially when it made no sense and was uncalled for.

To her surprise, the woman chuckled "Now there's some fire, that's more like it."

Alyssa only gave her an odd look that she couldn't see from where she sat, but then her expression quickly softened when she felt an invisible hand on her head gently travel through her hair. She didn't know why it made her relax both physically and mentally, a soft exhale left her as she noticed the window slide down more and the dark smoke-like cloud of nanites flowing onto the passenger seat of the vehicle, then closing the window shut, heavily muffling the sound from the other side.

"What do you want?"

Pauline paid no mind to the Walrider's rough tone as she reached into the glove compartment and pulled out what looked like four small black cloth bags, a roll of duct tape, and a peculiar, semi-transparent pistol

"To clear things out, this is a tranquilizer gun, I'll make sure all four of them get a doze, but we're gonna tie them up and make sure they can't see anything or make a peep just in case. I assume she's gonna freak out a bit once you start tossing them in" Pauline threw a glance back towards the window and Alyssa "But whatever, just make sure you bring them unconscious, and I'll make sure they stay unconscious."

"Unconscious… For a determined period of time." the Walrider corrected and the woman rolled her eyes

"Yeah, yeah, I'll take them to a secluded place where they'll be served three meals a day and the finest wine in town then dumped on the city outskirts after the party. Paul told me we have to keep them alive, but he didn't tell me __why,__ mind enlightening me? Getting rid of the bodies wouldn't be a problem."

Some hairs involuntarily rose on the back of her neck upon hearing the bizarre otherworldly disembodied exhale with a slight echo, followed by a few silent moments until he spoke in a gravelly voice yet at the same time with a somewhat softer tone

"Four avoidable casualties. She would not forgive me."

Although the woman's wide smirk that immediately followed his words mildly annoyed him, he ignored it, until she opened her mouth to speak, her tone rich in amusement

"Oh my, now, who would've thought you'd care about something like that, __Wally__."

Pauline emphasized her last word as she barely suppressed a chuckle, her smirk still wide on her lips. In the next moment, it was abruptly replaced by a grimace and all her amusement vanished on the spot as she felt a sharp stinging pain on the inside of her abdomen, so intense that she couldn't maintain steady control of the van anymore. The vehicle briefly swerved before a skeletal hand materialized and grasped the steering wheel as the woman grabbed onto the side of her abdomen where the strong pain originated from, a groan escaped her, but before she managed to get any words out, the pain dissipated entirely in the next seconds, leaving her gasping as she recovered.

Again, she opened her mouth to speak, but the Walrider did so first, his voice inhumanly gravelly and low to the point that it partially sounded like a growl

"Make no mistake, I can inflict unimaginable pain without leaving the faintest mark on you, on any human. Consider this a reminder to maintain your loyalty and mind your boundaries."

Pauline bit her lip hard as her breath steadied "Well then… Message received." a faint unamused smile returned to her face "ETA five minutes."

Without another word, the window was suddenly slid down and the cloud flowed into the back of the vehicle, barely noticeable to Alyssa, who felt hesitant to ask the question

"Well.. Anything I should know?"

"We will arrive shortly."

His words made her breath shallow and her mind return to racing with concerns again, but before she could say anything, Pauline's voice called from ahead

"Hey listen up, unless you wanna make it look like those invitations and clothes are flowing in the wind out through the window and magically in here, the girl has to go in there with the bag."

"Excuse me?!" Alyssa's voice rose with her alarms upon hearing the woman, who let out a small groan, but she continued "No, no, you don't understand, what we're doing is already-"

"There's no cameras inside!" Pauline's voice rose as well, her statement making Alyssa's nerves ease somewhat, and even more so as she spoke again "Just think for a damn moment, what's better, me, a Murkoff agent, going to the house of the people we're gonna kidnap to impersonate in order to fuck with Murkoff, or a magical mysterious wind flying precisely the papers and clothes we need right outside their window and right into this van, or some creeper in black with a mask skulking through the apartment building in broad daylight, __or__ a normal looking girl? What do you __think?__ "

A long deep sigh left Alyssa, as much as she hated it, she had to admit the woman was right, there was no way for the Walrider to do the entire job without the risk of someone inside the building witnessing, and with Pauline's less than solid disguise, she also did not like the risk of her being spotted by CCTV cameras going inside the residence of people that were going to be kidnapped, people connected to Murkoff.

"God dammit.." She mumbled barely audibly under her breath before gathering her strength to speak up and prepare to leave the safety of the van "I understand… I'm going." she placed her hand on the brown leather suitcase next to the bench and pulled it closer to her.

Pauline offered a nod that she couldn't see before speaking, her voice more quiet but serious "Right up ahead here."

It was only another minute of waiting at a red light until they arrived, minute which felt too long to Alyssa, and once the van stopped on the side of the road, she felt her stomach drop too.

"That's the place." Pauline spoke towards a moderately tall building, nearly half of it covered in one-way windows "Second floor, apartment 8, come on, time to move."

After taking a few moments to gather the strength to exit the vehicle, Alyssa quickly grabbed the suitcase, stood up and walked to the doors of the back of the vehicle. Just as she grabbed the handle with a slightly trembling hand, she flinched when she felt an invisible but firm grasp on her arm.

 ** _ _ **I am right beside you.**__**

She swallowed, but her nerves eased ever so slightly, then slowly nodded, opened the door and hopped out.

The apartment building was outside of downtown, and Pauline had parked in a relatively inconspicuous place next to some similar looking vehicles, but Alyssa's heart still thumped heavily as she began approaching the building.

 _ _Just breathe, and act normal, act natural, you gotta appear like you belong here, just some casual business stopping by, okay, alright, no big deal.__

As she slowly made her way towards the glass entrance doors, the Walrider briefly scouted the perimeter of the building, including the top of it, which was occupied by a terrace.

Once inside, Alyssa ignored the elevator sign further down the brightly lit hallway and took the large spiraling staircase up, her feet virtually completely silent on the marble steps, then on the crimson carpet once she reached the second floor. Looking down the hallway and silver numbers on the large, solid looking wooden doors, she kept walking in search for the number eight, then her heart skipped a beat when she heard a few metallic clicks, followed by the sound of a door opening and unfamiliar voices chattering. Throwing a discreet look over her shoulder, she noticed two women speaking to each other as one of them exited the apartment a few doors behind her.

 _ _Great, just leave, quickly dammit, number eight is right there, I can't be standing around doing nothing looking suspicious.__

Alyssa's walking pace decreased significantly as she tried to stretch the time needed to reach the apartment, she cussed to herself after she had to pass by it and keep going, then slowed to a halt once the women finally said their goodbyes and left the hallway, while a relieved exhale also left her.

"Alright, this is the place.. What do you want me to do? I gotta find a way to not look suspicious while waiting around.." she whispered, double checking that there was no one nearby that could hear her.

"Take the elevator, there is a terrace at the top of this building."

His answer sparked mixed feelings within her, she was relieved that there was a place she could wait without raising suspicion, surprised that he had already checked the building from above, but also mildly unnerved that she had to wait that far away from him.

"You already checked the place from the outside? Alright, then.. Call me after you found the stuff and need me to come pick it up. And try to not make a huge mess, I guess." she wondered if it even mattered if he ransacked the apartment while he searched, as long as he kept it quiet, then made her way to the elevator.

The Walrider didn't bother unlocking the door, he only slipped the swarm underneath it, not bothering to compose his form either, as it was not needed, but he did check for surveillance cameras inside, not fully trusting Pauline's words. The results were negative, however, so without any hindrances other than minding his noise level, he began the search for the required items.

The excessive size of the apartment started to bother him as the search went on, through multiple desks, wardrobes, drawers, shelves, in almost every single room; the file cabinet seemed like an unlikely location for the invitations, but having failed to find them, he quickly searched through it as well. As with all the others, he tossed the papers on the floor, uncaring of the growing mess inside the residence, but wasn't surprised to not find any invitations hidden inside.

As the search continued, objects kept flying off from their proper places, seemingly flung by invisible forces, the sight appearing as if it was taken from a paranormal documentary. He briefly paused upon causing a glass vase to land on the polished hardwood floor and shatter, quickly checking if the breaking noise, combined with whatever noise he might had been making before, had attracted any attention.

Even though the coast was still clear, his annoyance kept rising at the failure to locate two pieces of paper in the large apartment with countless potential hiding places that he had already ransacked almost entirely. Reluctantly deciding to look for the clothes instead, he returned to the main bedroom and checked the wardrobe inside, although he had to admit, he was far from sure what he was looking for, what kind of clothes humans would wear for such an event, it mildly annoyed him, but he went by searching for something that appeared to stand out. If that plan failed, he would have to resort to bringing Alyssa in to help him, something he preferred avoiding entirely, as the further she was from the apartment of the future kidnap victims, the safer.

Upon finding nothing of apparent interest in the relatively small wardrobe, much to his annoyance, he had to begin searching through the considerably larger, walk-in wardrobe that he hadn't yet checked in his previous search for the invitations, as it only appeared packed with clothes.

It wasn't long until the small room became a mess too, as clothes were landing on the floor and flying from inside it and into the bedroom, none of them seeming to fit his already vague idea of what they should look like, while the urge to call Alyssa to help him kept growing with each discarded clothing piece. Once all the hanger bars were virtually devoid of items, the cardboard boxes underneath them became more visible, some of them with no lids, some of them closed, so he quickly began searching through them, flipping them over, spilling everything on the floor.

He reached for one of the last boxes that were partially hidden near the corner, the container appearing to be made of a thinner cardboard, white in color, and when he roughly removed the lid, he suddenly slowed down.

Staring back at him was a jawless skull mask, its surface appearing metallic, silver in color and polished, some of the lines across its face adorned with small, white, glimmering stones, a shattering pattern placed on the side of the skull, and while both eye pieces inside the orbits were made of something that resembled black lenses, on the right lens laid a mark in the form of an X, its shape also appearing to be composed of tiny, red shimmering stones.

If the Walrider had a face at the time, he would have frowned at the peculiar object, even more so as he slowly lifted it and noticed the black cloth mask attached to the relatively heavy skull mask that covered the rest of the head, then the folded up tuxedo on top of a pair of black dress shoes that laid underneath. Placing the mask back, he returned the lid on the box then set it aside relatively gently, before reaching for the nearly identical one that it had been sitting on.

Upon opening the next box, his unspoken wish was granted as he was met with not only the invitations, but also another mask, smaller in size, right next to them. Its base was symmetrical, form fitting on the face, covering from the forehead to the bottom of the nose, smooth and silver in color, decorated with patterns made of curving and twisting lines of shades that seemed to change between purple and pink with the light and angle.

The right side of the mask, however, was extended by what resembled a large butterfly wing attached to it, bright silver in color as well, but with numerous gaps of varying shapes and sizes due to the intricate design it was carved in, making the already thin metal even more delicate, while the outer edge of the wing was adorned with light purple stones that decreased in size from the top downwards. Its eye holes, unlike the skull mask, were empty and clear, lacking any sort of obscuring lenses, and vaguely resembled the shape of a cat's eyes, while near the top of the left side stood what could be called a horn, small in size and pointed backwards.

As with the other mask, a clothing item was resting underneath it, that, upon a quick inspection, appeared to be a dress, which in turn laid over a pair of boots. With no time nor care to examine anything else and invitations found, he placed the lid back and picked up the box, along with the other one, off the floor.

At the top of the building, Alyssa couldn't keep herself from pacing around the empty terrace, but staying away from the railings at the edges, still having some patience remaining.

 ** _ _ **Come.**__**

The sudden voice in her head made her flinch before heading to the stairs leading back inside the building, her pace brisk but not rushed enough to stand out. In the elevator ride downwards, she held tightly onto the handle of the suitcase, wiping some sweat off her hands, before stepping outside into the hallway, which, much to her chagrin, wasn't clear, but she couldn't simply stand around doing nothing, so she still made her way towards the apartment in question.

Several doors ahead, the small group of people that kept chattering irritated Alyssa, two of them were standing outside the door while speaking to the rest inside, their apartment too close to the one she needed to stop at. She did her best to keep the annoyance from showing on her face as she walked past them in the relatively wide hallway.

 _ _Argh, you people have the worst timing ever, go away already!__

An exhale of relief left her as the group finally separated what felt like too late for her liking, and once the coast was clear, she stopped next to the door of apartment eight, tried to appear inconspicuous as she leaned on the wall and lightly knocked once before whispering

"I'm here."

She had no idea if her voice was loud enough for him to hear, she doubted it, and she was hesitant to raise it or knock again so soon, but her heart began thumping slightly harder upon hearing the metallic clicks inside the lock, and she quickly began opening the suitcase as she kept glancing around, ensuring they were still in the clear.

"You got the good stuff?" she questioned hurriedly under her breath as soon as the door was cracked open

A few moments of silence came from the other side until she heard the Walrider's voice, carrying a tone of confusion she rarely heard

"What?…"

"You know what I mean!"

"Just open the case."

Alyssa held the suitcase open wide, as well as her eyes as she kept scanning around for the threat of witnesses, oblivious to the fact that the Walrider's nanites were scattered in the area, alerting him of all movement and potential risks. She barely noticed the two boxes placed in the suitcase before she quickly closed it, then the door to the apartment was closed and locked back. After noticing the grey cloud flowing into the hallway from underneath, she took off too, making an effort to keep herself from starting to run back towards the van.

Doing her best to appear calm and casual while she walked at a relatively brisk pace, her hand squeezed on the suitcase handle as her heart still thumped heavily, yet she could realize it wasn't from fear anymore, she could tell the cause of it, and it deeply confused her. She had no idea why she was excited, or what she was excited about, but there was an unmistakable thrilling sensation within her.

 _ _What in the hell… Okay, no, we don't have time for this now, let's go!__

Pushing aside the confusing feeling, she returned to the van, placed the suitcase safely in the corner before slamming the doors shut and taking a seat.

"About time, are we ready?" Pauline spoke from behind the wheel.

The Walrider only formed his skeleton and sat down on the bench across from Alyssa "Get moving."

As the woman turned the engine back on and the vehicle took off down the street, making distance from the scene, Alyssa couldn't suppress an excited laugh

"Holy shit we did it! I mean, you did it, I mean, we still have other stuff to do but oh my god, that was a clean escape."

The Walrider cocked his head at her change in demeanor curiously, it wasn't long ago at all that she was nerve-racked, and she continued before he could say anything, a smile still on her face

"Took you long enough, though, did you make a proper freakin' mess of the place?"

"Ravaged it." he stated with a hint of amusement, her comment following in a similar tone

"Yeah, you're really good at that…"

When he seemed to begin to lean in towards her, she quickly continued as her gaze turned to the window at Pauline "So where are we going now?"

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the swarm leaning back in his seat.

"Got a message from Paul a few minutes ago." the woman driving said casually "Vincent and Lydia just arrived at the Rawlins' place, we'll get there too.. in a while, strap yourselves in, it's far from the city. And by the way…" their attention was drawn by her pause "How much do those masks cover? Because Lydia has brown hair and green eyes, and Vin-"

"The woman's only covers the face, not obscuring the eyes, the man's will not be a problem." the Walrider interrupted Pauline, and Alyssa interjected

"Oh.. then I guess I'm gonna have to dye my hair."

"And wear contacts." Pauline added "Paul and I will provide them with the rest of the preparations when we stop by next time."

"Understood.." Alyssa spoke calmly, feeling some of her unrest returning, but not nearly as much as before.

The long drive out of the city ate away at her patience, checking the time, she could see that objectively, nearly half an hour passed, yet it felt like much more to her. On top of the increasing boredom, ever since they left the city and sped down faster on lonely country roads with nothing but fields around for miles, she couldn't stop the haunting feeling that nagged at her, the paranoia that came with the memories of what had happened that night when she was with the Parks, driving down very similar roads, and the fact that the sun had almost fully set did not alleviate her uneasiness.

Curiosity had urged her to check for herself what exactly was inside the suitcase some time ago, but she pushed the desire away, desire which returned again, stronger than before, with her increasing boredom. Making an effort to resist the temptation again, she idly played with her empty hands, mostly absentmindedly and mildly annoyed at the fact that Pauline insisted to keep the window between them down so they could easily communicate clearly and immediately if there was an emergency. In a way, she understood, yet at the same time, she wished she could have spoken to the Walrider privately, instead of being forced to only exchange a few words once in a while, too uncomfortable to speak freely and paranoid that she might accidentally say something the woman shouldn't hear.

A long heavy sigh left her, partly out of frustration but mostly out of boredom, she stretched her back and legs as much as she could while sitting down on the narrow bench of the speeding vehicle, her muscles relaxed, only to tense back up upon hearing Pauline's voice

"Alright, we're almost there, I'm turning off the headlights, I'm gonna park it as close as I can but not too close. Not risking letting anyone see me.." she mumbled the last sentence more to herself, slipped a finger under the collar of her shirt from where she pulled a thin red scarf that she positioned over her face before the van's headlights suddenly went off, leaving the road illuminated only by the rather infrequent street lamps and the rising half-moon on the partially cloudy sky.

"And by the way, ghost…" Pauline continued, and the Walrider turned his skull in her direction "Since we have to keep them alive, do try to not make them suspect they've been attacked by something other than a human… I don't think that would be.. uh, in our best interest. I mean, __they__ have no clue what the Walrider is, but the higher-ups at Murkoff sure as shit do, let's not leave them those type of clues now, shall we.."

"Acknowledged.." he spoke in a disinterested tone, his gaze shifting to Alyssa as she questioned the woman

"You said these people are Frazier's friends, right? Are they Murkoff, though?"

"No, but some aspire to." an amused exhale left Pauline "Lydia keeps trying to get on Frazier's good side. Well, she's already there, but on his even better side, good enough that he'd get her a pretty high position in the corporation's finance department."

"Oh boy.. If only she knew she saved her life by not getting that position yet.." Alyssa glanced to the Walrider when the nanites forming his skeleton began shifting, slowly transforming the swarm into the shape of a human; she didn't keep her gaze on him for the entire process, but once it finished, she had to do a double take at the sight. She remembered the look of the masked man sitting in front of her, the opaque goggles, the bulletproof vest over the long sleeved shirt with gloves, the dark grey camo pants with combat boots, the gun and knife on his belt, it was the same person she had seen in the photos from the surveillance cameras in Mrs. Mannon's house during the night of her removal.

"See anything you like?" the Walrider spoke upon noticing Alyssa's continued stare on him, his question bringing a small smile to her face as she looked away and shook her head.

"That's the place, you can see the lights from here." Pauline's statement quickly drew Alyssa's attention, who lifted her bandanna over her face before standing up to look through the window.

Some distance into the field and to her left, she could see a large two story villa whose lights were on, as well as other smaller buildings in its vicinity, and as they drove closer, she began noticing the two vehicles parked on the Rawlins' land, near the villa, behind the short wooden fence that seemed to go on for miles.

"Keep going." she flinched upon hearing the Walrider's voice right above her then moved out of the way when she saw he was standing behind her, leaning down to look through the window.

Pauline kept driving for a short while longer at a decreased speed, then slowly pulled the van over on a dirt road next to some small bushy trees "This should be good. I say it's safer to put them all to sleep first before starting to bring them in, but being out in the open when you get them here will be a big risk, I'll drive as close as I can once they're all out and we'll keep an eye out for incoming headlights, gonna honk if anyone's coming."

Alyssa nodded in agreement with the woman as she watched him step towards the exit, the vehicle slightly shifting under the weight of the large number of nanites arranged close together. When he swung open one of the doors, the cold evening air gave her mixed feelings, on one hand, it was refreshing after being stuck inside the poorly ventilated van, but on the other, it helped to return the nervousness that had been creeping back the closer they were to the targets.

After he exited the vehicle, hearing the dusty, rocky dirt road crunch under his boots only made her apprehension rise as well, she felt an urge to poke her head out and follow him with her gaze, but resisted it, and listened as the footsteps gradually faded until they were no longer audible, then accepted the beginning of the tense wait.


	41. Chapter 41

"You know," Pauline broke the long silence "I knew Veronica Mannon. Wouldn't call her a friend, more like an.. acquaintance, I guess? The cops showed the surveillance footage from her house to Murkoff investigators. Not myself and Paul specifically, but I did manage to get my hands on it too."

Alyssa's brows lightly furrowed at the woman's statement "Oh.. I'm.. sorry to hear." most of her attention still remained distant, while a small part of her hoped that Pauline's past with the woman wasn't going to pose a problem. Slowly, she stepped to the back of the van and cracked one of the doors open again, occasionally keeping an eye out for incoming vehicles.

"No need for that, you know, I can cover our back with the side view mirror too." Alyssa ignored her comment and said nothing as she continued "Anyway, no, there's no need to apologize, actually, what I was getting at is, you guys did a pretty efficient job there, the human disguise, keeping it discreet, not using any.. spooky powers or whatever, that's good, it's what you, or, apparently, __we__ , have to keep doing.. Only thing that surprised me was leaving that snotty gold-digger alive." Pauline's words ended with a noticeable smirk that while Alyssa couldn't see, she could clearly hear it in her tone.

Mostly subconsciously, a slight scowl formed on Alyssa's face, which was hidden by her bandanna, she had to make an effort to keep her thoughts to herself.

 _ _Things like this make me wonder if you'll ever utter anything that will suggest you're a half-decent person…__

"Twelve o'clock incoming." Pauline's words quickly made Alyssa retreat back into the van, pulling the door closed and watching through the windshield as a pair of headlights approached from ahead.

"Is he outside? I can't see anything out there."

"No, he's been inside for a while now.. Bit too long, actually, what's taking him, go and check it out."

"Excuse me?!" Alyssa whispered nervously as the truck in the distance approached and drove past "I'm not going out there, you go, if you're so impatient!"

Pauline glanced at the watch on her wrist "This isn't about patience, kid.." she pulled out and lit a cigarette from the pack in her pocket and spoke under her breath, mostly to herself "The longer we stay here, the higher the risks."

Alyssa swallowed, understanding that too well, and while a part of her was curious about what was going on inside the house, she couldn't bring herself to go and see for herself.

* * *

As she sat on the edge of the back of the van, her legs idly dangling down, occasionally scraping the dirt road with the toes of her shoes, she couldn't decide if she was more bored or more nervous. Once in a while, a pair of distant headlights would rise over the horizon, serving as a signal for her to get back inside and check the house to make sure no one was outside while the vehicle drove by.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she casually looked around, as she had done many times before during the wait, only to suddenly see the Walrider approaching while holding a woman over his shoulder and dragging a man along the ground by the shirt. Even though she was fully expecting a similar sight, she still felt mild panic, she quickly hopped out of the van, opened the other door and stepped back to make room before she even fully realized it. The front door of the vehicle also opened as Pauline stepped out with a roll of duct tape and a couple of small black cloth sacks that she quickly placed over the heads of the unconscious man and woman before wrapping duct tape around their wrists, then Alyssa flinched as the Walrider tossed them into the back of the van.

"Caref-.." her voice faded as she watched him immediately turn away and return to the house, then felt the other woman's hand on her upper back, lightly pushing her towards the vehicle.

"Come on, get back inside, he's gonna bring the other two then we're outta here." Pauline walked to the front while Alyssa hesitantly hopped inside the back of the van, she briefly glanced at the two unconscious people laying on the floor of the vehicle, then back to the open door when she heard Pauline return.

Her body tensed upon noticing the strange looking, semi-transparent pistol in her hand, that she immediately aimed and fired once into each of the bodies, answering her unspoken questions and softening the confusion and worry on Alyssa's face

"Relax, it's a tranq gun, it's just gonna make sure they stay down so we don't have any surprises on the road."

"Right.." Alyssa mumbled more to herself as Pauline returned to the driver's seat, uncomfortable with her proximity to the unconscious people, but pushed herself to approach the end of the bench closest to the door and take a seat.

"I'm surprised you're not freaking out, maybe I underestimated you." Pauline's mildly amused voice drew her attention, but she didn't turn to look through the window.

"Look, I don't like this, obviously, but what can I do at this point? What would the point of 'freaking out' even be? Just leave me alone.."

She wasn't sure why Pauline's presence became significantly more unwelcome once the Walrider brought two of the people to the van, she could only chalk it up to the arrival of the unconscious man and woman adding to her stress and concern to the point that her tolerance of Pauline's casual remarks in such a serious situation was drastically diminished. She was mildly relieved that the woman remained quiet.

What little peace Alyssa tried to maintain was soon interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, accompanied by the sound of something heavy being dragged along the dirt road. She didn't stand up, she only threw quick glances as the wrists of the unconscious people were tied and the black sacks were quickly placed over their heads before being tossed into the back of the van and shot by Pauline with her tranquilizer gun like the others.

Once the Walrider slammed the doors shut, she watched quietly as he placed two relatively small boxes brought from the house into the brown suitcase, then felt some small sense of relief that grew more as Pauline turned the engine on and accelerated. From the corner of her eye, she watched the swarm sit across from her, still in his disguise, facing her, but she continued facing the doors.

"Alright boys and girls, we're outta here, clean escape, good job. Now needless to say, I'm not bringing these assholes into the city, if anyone caught a glimpse of what's back there we'd be fucked, so I'll drop you off soon."

"Fine.. Just make sure these people will be safe until.. you sure they can't hear us?" Alyssa's voice turned to whispers as she threw a glance at the unmoving people on the floor.

"Yes and yes, relax, they're so out cold you could feed them to lions and they wouldn't wake up."

A long sigh left Alyssa, more out of emotional exhaustion than anything, she turned back to face the doors, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging her legs, feeling hesitant to look towards the Walrider.

It wasn't long until she realized she couldn't relax either, on one hand, the farther away they drove from the home of the kidnapped people, the more she felt she could breathe easier, and on the other, the kidnapped people themselves were right next to her, she dreaded the possibility mentioned by Pauline, of someone catching even a brief sight of what was inside the back of the van, it was a continuous source of anxiety.

The idea to close her eyes and try to pretend she was somewhere else, anywhere without unconscious people laying at her feet, crossed her mind, she entertained it, then noticed through the corner of her eye the Walrider shifting from his disguise into his usual form.

She hoped he hadn't spotted her watching, but regardless, she allowed her eyelids to drop closed.

It felt like only seconds later that she heard the voice in her head

 ** _ _ **Alyssa.**__**

When she opened her eyes, she did so with mild difficulty, realizing how tired she was despite not doing much that day. Chalking it up to mental and emotional exhaustion due to what they were doing, she turned to look to the Walrider with some hesitation, but remained silent, her gaze rather quickly dropping towards his feet, then towards the piled up bodies on the floor.

 ** _ _ **Are you alright?**__**

His question made her draw in a quiet sharp breath and tense up, she could understand why, then did her best to dismiss it, knowing she was both too tired and how it was far from the right time and place to engage such a subject. She only nodded and turned her gaze back towards the rear doors of the vehicle.

She was grateful for the silence that followed, and during it, she became aware of her own heart's beating, not significantly quicker than what it should be, but noticeably enough. She couldn't bring herself to think of it beyond the layer of anxiety brought by the fact that she had just participated in the kidnapping of four people whose unconscious bodies laid next to her feet, the desire to get away from them and get back to the safety of the hotel intensified the longer they drove.

As the city drew nearer, Pauline grew increasingly alert, borderline paranoid, and continued keeping an eye out for a good spot to drop the other two off.

"Hey, I'm kinda nervous too with these assholes right behind me, but why are you two so quiet? Anything I should know that you ain't saying?"

Pauline's words set a faint frown on Alyssa's face before she even realized it, she didn't turn to look at the woman, and felt like she required a noticeable amount of effort in order to speak loud enough

"None of your business. When can I leave?"

"I think I found a spot.. But you better be damn careful when you get out, keep the door as closed as possible."

Alyssa kept her acknowledgement to herself and felt a small sense of relief from being so close to parting ways with Pauline and the unconscious people, the thought to remind her again to keep them safe crossed her mind, but she dismissed it.

As the vehicle began slowing down, she expected the Walrider to dissipate into an invisible cloud, yet he hadn't, even as Pauline pulled over on the side of the road on the outskirts of the city, he only grabbed the suitcase with the masks and outfits. Standing up with some effort, she stepped to the doors, only offering a nod to Pauline after she spoke

"Expect the visit from Paul or me tomorrow. Or.. maybe the day after, remains to be seen, we still have time, anyway, I'll take it from here."

Without a glance behind, Alyssa pulled her bandanna down and did her best to slip out of the van while opening the door as little as possible, mildly relieved to see that Pauline had purposefully parked the vehicle so its rear would be partly facing away from the streets and occasional passing cars. Her sneakers landed on the dusty dirt road with a light thump, she only took a few small steps forward and began stretching her back after the long journey, when she was interrupted by the sound of a much heavier thump right behind her.

Instantly turning on her heel more out of reflex, the sight of the Walrider in his hooded disguise puzzled her, she made that obvious in the look she gave him. He only placed his hand in the pocket of his jacket and signaled her with a head motion to follow as he began walking towards the city, suitcase in his other hand. More on autopilot, Alyssa followed behind him, already beginning to keep an eye out for any incoming taxi cab, while Pauline accelerated and took a right turn on a road leading away from the city.

The more minutes passed, the more uneasy she became, dreading the possibility of him turning around and starting to ask her questions, questions whose answers she did her best to block from her own mind, the last thing she wanted was an open discussion then and there.

A small exhale of relief left her upon seeing the yellow cab pulling over after she signaled towards it, waiting for them on the side of the road. Without hesitation, she rushed past him and into the vehicle, scooting over in the back to the far side of the bench as much as she could, as close to the opposite door as she could. She waited quietly for him to get inside and was grateful that he did not scoot close to her, then absentmindedly gave the driver the location of the hotel. Once the car mixed with the rest of the traffic on the way to their destination and everything was quiet, she could finally feel like she could breathe easily again, although she would only be able to fully relax once reached the safety of her temporary home.

As the minutes passed, she couldn't keep herself from occasionally throwing discreet glances at him, mildly surprised that he hadn't inquired more about her unusual behavior, then did her best to ignore the next thought that crossed her mind. That he simply didn't care.

The more time passed, the more she felt herself more capable of speaking up, something she couldn't do earlier, yet now she was prevented from it due to the fact that they weren't alone. Still, she mustered up the strength to speak up, barely above a whisper

"Why did you.. Why are you.. in that form?" she gestured with a head motion towards his body, hoping he would understand without having to go into details in the presence of another person.

Through the corner of her eye, watching his hood slowly turn towards her made her tense up

"You said it makes you feel safer." he stated plainly, his words only invoking more heartache, she bit her lip that was lightly trembling with the cocktail of emotions fighting within her, but seeing as he didn't bother to alter his voice in the slightest, drawing a brief odd look from the cab driver, she decided to remain quiet.

In the hotel elevator, for once, she welcomed the presence of other people, and as soon as she stepped foot into the apartment, she made a beeline for the bedroom, took everything off, walked into the adjacent bathroom and hopped in the shower.

The jet of hot water was more than a little soothing, she didn't expect nor hope of it to alleviate her tension and mind fog to a significant degree until it did. A deep sigh of relaxation and relief left her, while her distressing emotions still remained, the longer she stayed under the warm flow, the more ready she felt to confront and address them.

When she finally convinced herself to finish, she only dried herself and patted her hair down with a towel, then wrapped a larger towel around herself, and, with some hesitation, exited the bedroom.

As she stepped into the living room, she noticed the suitcase placed on a sofa, the thought to open it crossed her mind, but she scheduled it for later. The seemingly deserted and quiet surroundings drew some of her attention, and what drew more of it was the bar at the back of the living room, she wasn't a fan of it and had no intention of getting tipsy, she only couldn't think of any other way to gather the courage to openly discuss what she needed to discuss.

After a quick glance around confirming that she was still alone, she stepped forward on bare feet, slightly recoiling at the mildly cold hardwood floor and hopping back onto the soft carpet around the bar. Stepping behind it, she crossed her arms both thoughtfully and to hold her towel up better as her gaze traveled across the long shelves of countless drinks, most of which she never even heard of before, a frustrated exhale leaving her soon. She didn't care what it was, only that it didn't taste horrible and that it would help her words come out with less struggle, but the number of options still felt overwhelming.

Remembering she had much more important things to worry about, she decided to wing it and grabbed a bottle whose label appeared less intimidating to her. Just as she turned around, a sudden tight pressure on her wrist drew a gasp out of her, the surprise being enough to loosen her grip and drop the bottle. It didn't fall to the ground, while it appeared to stop in mid-air, rise by itself and place itself on the bar, the shape of the Walrider materialized at her side

"As much as I enjoyed what you did the last time you got drunk, I much prefer fogging your mind through other methods." he spoke casually as he released her wrist and Alyssa immediately stepped back, some heat rising to her cheeks as she briefly recalled the last time she drank too much, then pushed the memory away

"What, no, I'm not.. I don't want to do that again. Get drunk, that is.." she mentally cussed herself for getting caught and having the situation turn even more difficult than before, even more so as a quick glance towards him revealed the many intricate grey and white details on him, including the rather questioning raised eyebrow as he stared at her expectantly, so she pushed herself to speak

"I need to.. talk about something."

"So talk."

"It's not easy! And you just made it even harder. And cornering me here doesn't help either!"

Due to the design of the bar, closed off on one side, the only exit was blocked by the Walrider, and she didn't want to attempt climbing over the bar wearing only a towel. She was relieved when he stepped back, slower than she would have preferred, but she took the opportunity to walk over to the sofas.

"Maybe you've noticed I was acting.. off.. earlier. Ever since you.. brought those people. I was.. trying to avoid talking to you.. even looking at you." her fingers gently squeezed the back rest of the sofa, the suitcase on it drawing her glance briefly "Maybe you don't care." her voice came out lower than she meant it to, she cleared her throat and made an effort to raise it "I can't.. blame you. I shouldn't blame you. I should've kept my feelings in check in the first place…"

At first, she thought the silence following her words made her feel even more nervous, then she heard the approaching heavy footsteps behind her, and her heart began thumping like a drum in her chest, even after he stopped some distance away.

"Alyssa, I fully expect you to hate me. If you don't already hold resentment towards me, be it covert or overt, then you will in the near future." his tone was serious, although not overly so, but his words made her turn to look at him with a genuinely hurt expression.

"Hate you?! I..." an emotionally exhausted sigh left her, her hand rose to her temple, partly to hide her face, helped by the hair obscuring some of it as well as she lowered her gaze to the floor. Her voice dropped to a whisper "That would make things much easier and simpler…"

As soon as he took a step towards her, she stepped back herself, placing an arm around herself in a subconscious defensive gesture. He didn't push her, remaining in place, his voice lowering with an undertone of gentleness

"Mannon and Frazier are only the beginning, Alyssa, there is much more bloodshed to come, I do not know how many more lives I could snuff out and have you by my side."

Alyssa bit her lip tightly and her fingers clenched on the back of the sofa even tighter, his words roused a feeling of ire within her, and she didn't care to suppress it, this was the time to speak fully openly, she allowed her voice to rise

" _ _Fuck__ Mannon and Frazier!" the nanites on his face formed a curious, slightly surprised expression upon hearing her, but she continued, her voice lower yet still irate "You know better than any of us what those people fight for, what they struggle so much to defend, they are.. as close as a human being can come to evil! What can we do, after you killed Mannon, the next one in line to defend Murkoff's fucking monstrous atrocities is up and ready to get to work, hell, he's throwing a damn fancy party before coming back to do everything he can to allow Murkoff to get away and continue doing that shit! God knows how long they've been at it. Now __if__ they start getting the message really soon and start running for the hills, then that would be good, but right now, Frazier knows damn well he's about to replace someone who was murdered while trying to protect Murkoff, and he doesn't give a crap, he's willing to do it, he's that fucking in love with Murkoff's money and power that he doesn't care!"

Alyssa took a deep breath as she finished, her hand moving to cover more of her face; she felt the urge to move again when he stepped closer

"That much is true, you are finally beginning to understand." he started, but when he placed an arm on the sofa at her side, she slipped away before he could place the other too and trap her "But you did not come to me to vent about Murkoff dogs."

She swallowed as she started to slowly pace around the sofa and him, trying to summon the strength to speak of what she truly needed to get off her chest

"No.." it barely came out as a whisper, she held an arm over her chest to keep her towel secure, trying to ignore the feeling of piercing grey eyes following her every movement as she walked "I know murder is nothing to you.. I'm accepting it, as long as it's hopeless people who continue trying to protect Murkoff, as long as it prevents innocent lives from suffering.." she ran a hand through her semi wet hair "And I'll probably surprise no one by saying I haven't committed the slightest.. legal offense in my life, and before I decided to go to the asylum, I planned to keep it that way for the rest of my life. Hell, I almost never even jaywalked, and once, during one of the extremely rare times I did it, years ago, a cop saw me and gave me a look. I thanked god he didn't do anything and haven't jaywalked ever since. Stupid, I know, I'm only saying it to give you an idea of how scared I was.. I am, to break the law. As I ranted earlier, I don't think we have much of a choice, if I could just snap my fingers and make those monsters go away or just teleport them on some remote island where they couldn't hurt anyone I'd do it in a heartbeat, but that's not an option."

A deep sigh left her and she cussed herself under her breath for finding it so difficult to get to the point "We can only.. take these people out of the equation and hope they get the message as soon as possible and stop. Needless to say again, the bloodshed is unpleasant, to understate it…" her exhale came out shaky, and she sat down on the sofa before gathering the strength to continue, her voice dropping almost to a whisper despite her efforts "But there's.. something.. that makes it much.. more difficult for me.."

Her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly hopped over the back rest of the sofa and landed next to her, the weight making her briefly bounce. Already focused on trying to piece her words together as best she could and the struggle of actually getting them out, she didn't see his hand coming until the velvety sensation was already on her cheek, making her turn to look at him.

"Speak." he said simply and calmly, but in an oddly undemanding and patient tone that encouraged her to finally get it out.

"I like you, you bastard." she whispered then pulled away, resting her forehead on her palms "I.. __really__ like you."

The low rumble that came from him before the words spoken with mild amusement gave her mixed feelings "So much effort, only for this?"

"It's not just that!" she snapped back but only in a semi-serious manner herself before clearing her throat and continuing more firmly "As I said.. the things we have to do, the things __you__ have to do, coupled with the way I feel about you.. it's.. God, it's tearing me apart inside."

He watched her for a few thoughtful seconds before speaking "Or perhaps you are simply enamored with the sense of safety and protection from Murkoff that only I can grant you."

When he saw the outraged frown on her face as she looked at him, it struck him that it might not had been such a good idea to say that, he believed her, he didn't even need her word for it, the emotions she was radiating proved it true, he had only wanted to see how she would react, and she did not take it well

"Enamored with __what__?! That's not true, I mean that's true too, you can and I do appreciate it but it's not why I- it's so far from the main reason, a-and what about the time we-.. we…" red in the face for multiple reasons, she still couldn't bring herself to say it right there and then, and felt her temperature go up ever so slightly when she heard his deep gravelly voice say it bluntly close to her as he leaned in

"Fucked?"

"Y-yes, fine! That! What was __that,__ then?"

She crossed her arms and legs, leaning away, not looking to see the smirk on his face but the amusement in his tone was still palpable and infuriating

"Perhaps you needed a release."

Now she was livid, she jumped out of her seat as if she sat on a hot stove "That's ridiculous, I didn't do it because of that! Well fine, maybe a little, tiny bit, but only a little! I'm not that kind of person- I, if I didn't like you I would've fought tooth and nail and screamed my head off and stuff, I would've tried anything to stop you, I would've-... I'm serious, it's none of those reasons, how can I prove it to you? Tell me, I'll do it!"

The chuckle that came from him confused and infuriated her further while also raising a few hairs on the back of her neck, before she could turn around and express her outrage, she was suddenly immobilized as he grabbed her from behind, over her arms, preventing any attempt to escape. Just as she opened her mouth, he spoke first

"I believe you, you don't have to fret so much trying to convince me, remember, emotions manifest through the fifth dimension, I can see them, and yours speak for themselves, no words or promises necessary."

Some of Alyssa's anger alleviated, but her confusion lingered

"But.. then why did you.."

She felt his shrug

"Curiosity, I merely wanted to hear your thoughts."

Alyssa's eye twitched "C-curiosity?! In a time like this, after I struggled so much to come clean to you?! Oh my god, that is.. that is just.. not okay! That is __so__ not okay!"

She felt the vibration from his deep chuckle more as he leaned on her and made her support some of the heavy weight of the dense concentration of nanites

"I am insensitive."

"To say the least!" she commented with playful outrage this time, after she was relieved of her genuine one.

"Even so…" he took his weight off of her and turned her to face him, but still held her by the arms, making it difficult for her to keep the towel wrapped tightly around her chest "Look at you, at what you were so worked up trying to accomplish, at me." his tone still held some amusement, although she hesitated to look up at him, her embarrassment stemming from multiple sources, mainly the unsecure feeling of the towel around her "So __passionately__ trying to convince this anomaly that shouldn't even exist in this world that you are enamored with him..." Alyssa felt her heartbeat and temperature rise again, even more so as his hand moved to her neck and made her look up at him through her lashes "How precious…"

Her mouth dropped slightly open and she put up no resistance when he grabbed her jaw firmly and pressed his lips against hers with unsurprising demand that she was more than eager to meet, she wrapped her arms over his neck, uncaring of the towel that was nearly slipping off, and lifted herself on the tips of her toes so he would have to lean down less for her.

Only moments later, he suddenly paused and pulled away, his gaze fixed in the distance behind her, confusing her, until he spoke with some haste

"The phone. Run."

"What? Oh shi-"

Alyssa took off immediately, holding her towel and wrapping it around herself tighter after it was loosened even more by the light slap on the ass he gave her as she ran to the bedroom, and as she approached, the ringing noise became increasingly audible to her ears too. Dashing into the room as quickly as she could, she noticed with surprise that the phone in question was the one Waylon had given her, the realization making her nearly stumble as she rushed to answer before the ringing stopped.

"I'm here! Hello?"

To her relief, from the other end of the line indeed came Waylon's voice, and she walked back to the living room as they spoke

"No, it's not too late. … Oh? … I understand." the excitement in her voice caught the Walrider's attention "Right! Yes we're still here. … Yes, just as we planned please, remember. … Alright, we'll see you here."

She turned to him as soon as she hanged up "The Parks are coming tomorrow!"

The Walrider nodded "Good." then crossed his arms slowly as his gaze rose up the flight of stairs leading to the floor above.

"Is something wrong?" Alyssa's excitement died down

"Billy might remember Waylon Park."

"Oh…"

"They used to bring Park to the morphogenic engine when his expertise was needed. At the time, Billy's mind was muddled by the chemical concoctions injected into him, if he did see Park, I cannot say if he will remember him."

"Well, he didn't take learning about our.. informants well, but he accepted we don't have much of a choice, in case he does recognize Waylon, it should be the same with him. Hopefully…" a soft exhale left Alyssa "I just hope he doesn't try anything stupid."

"I will not be a watchdog here once Park arrives." the way he spoke immediately after she barely finished her sentence drew a faint smile on her lips

"Fine, but if anyone ends up hurt it wouldn't make infiltration any easier and you know who would have to do the healing." her tone held amusement as she began leaving, and so did his

"I will take the gamble."

The smile on her lips stretched ever so slightly "Very well." she began walking away, until the Walrider's voice made her halt, his considerably more serious tone raising some concern within her.

"Alyssa."

She turned around expectantly "Yes?"

"What you said about Mannon and Frazier, about our lack of options." He took a few steps towards her and she swallowed "Did you say that to make yourself feel better? Attempt to rationalize away the conflict within you?"

A defeated sigh left her as her gaze slid to the floor "I'm not going to try to deceive either of us.. Yes, it's __part__ of the reason why I said it, but I still believe it, I stand by what I said."

The mild tension she felt as he watched her for a few moments dissipated once he gave her a nod before turning away, and she retreated to her bedroom.

* * *

 **Not even sure why I'm still writing since apparently virtually all interest in this fic died out.**


	42. Chapter 42

Alyssa wasn't alone in the bedroom for long, she flinched when the door swung open and the Walrider floated inside, and then flinched again when drawers began to open seemingly by themselves.

"Whoa, what's the deal, what you looking for?"

"Paul's phone."

She began getting up to help him, then stopped when she noticed the phone fly from inside the drawer she last left it in and towards his hand, but called out to him before he left

"Wait, why, is something wrong?"

"They need to ensure the Parks will not be followed here, these headquarters cannot be compromised."

Before she could say a word, the door already shut behind him, harder than she would have liked. A soft exhale left Alyssa, it was a valid concern, she couldn't deny that, but she also couldn't deny that the only reason he appeared to approve of the Parks' incoming arrival was due to their agreement to help them with the highly dangerous infiltration lying ahead, she knew it was the sole reason he would tolerate their presence, and on top of all, they didn't even know the full extent of what was expected of them and what the mission entailed, she anticipated tensions to rise even higher, and it was not a pleasant image.

 _ _So, shit sucks and it's only getting worse, what else is new…__

Earlier, as soon as she got to the bedroom, she allowed herself to land on the bed without doing anything else, so now she took the time to finally change into her pajamas, only to spend the next couple hours twisting and turning in bed, not surprised in the slightest at her inability to sleep, but increasingly annoyed and frustrated nonetheless.

When she finally woke up the next morning, she struggled to drag her stiff body into the bathroom after the awful sleep of the previous night, and upon stepping back into the bedroom, she meant to boot up her laptop, only to fail locating it anywhere in the room. It wasn't a concern, she simply assumed she must had misplaced it or tossed some clothes over it, and decided to look for it after she dressed up, then noticed the phone from Paul placed on the stand next to the bed. After checking the time on it and seeing it was nearly noon, she decided to keep it closer to her person and stepped over to the wardrobe.

It took a couple minutes until she decided on a pair of white pants with a light brown belt, cream colored knee-height boots, and a pastel pink sleeveless top; the pants were slightly tighter than she anticipated, but they stretched more than enough and had pockets where she placed Paul's phone, while the heels of the boots were sharp but short enough to allow comfortable wear, and even though the top had a relatively low cut, the left and right side were connected with laces that she pulled closed.

The mystery of the disappearance of her laptop was solved once she stepped into the living room and spotted it opened on the coffee table, its screen turned on and facing the Walrider who was laying on the largest sofa, which was still too small for him, his left leg and arm resting on the floor.

"Were you a thief in a previous life too? This is far from the first thing you borrow from people without asking." she spoke with amusement as she walked towards him, but her smile died down upon glancing at the oversized television on the wall and noticing it was streaming the images from the laptop, numerous stills taken from the surveillance cameras inside Mrs. Mannon's house during the night of her murder, many of them depicting himself in his disguise.

"I didn't know the cops released that many of those. Granted, I didn't look for long, mind you, I was... Anyway, you looking for something or what?"

"I am looking for mistakes. Mine." Most of his attention remained on the screen as his sharp grey eyes continued to scan over the images "They released this 'evidence' with the hopes that the public would be able to provide them with clues."

"Oh? And you're doing your duty as a good samaritan trying to catch the bad guy?" Alyssa crossed her arms playfully and spoke with an amused tone that he shared

"I am feeling generous today."

"Somehow that's still scary." a giggle left her and she briefly glanced towards the sofa to her right where the brown suitcase was placed "Well, found anything sketchy so far?"

"That's a negative."

On a whim, she took a large playful step towards him and dropped her weight on the couch he occupied, landing her rear on his lower abdomen. She ignored his attention turning to her and innocently kept looking anywhere else as she spoke with a goofy smile

"You talk funny, mister."

"And you are in a bizarrely positive mood."

At that, Alyssa's smile deflated, and a soft exhale left her "Yeah… I don't know why, I know I shouldn't be, especially considering how close we are getting to the.. event. Huh, maybe it's just nerves, making me act weird, don't know, I don't mind."

When his hand began rising up and snaking up her thigh, however, she stood up and off of him as if she had been sitting on a hot stove, ignoring the dissatisfied low rumble that came from him

"I-I should open that freakin suitcase, I've been meaning to for a while." stepping over to the other sofa, she opened the old suitcase with mild difficulty, then placed the four boxes from inside it onto the side of the coffee table after making room on it.

"Say, by the way, how'd you manage to connect the laptop to the TV?" she asked as she eagerly pulled one of them closer

"Ask Billy, his doing."

His words barely registered and her eyes grew wide upon opening the box and being met with the doll faced white mask, its surface so smooth and shiny she could almost see her reflection in it, the area surrounding its cat eye holes painted a shimmering honey gold in the shape of another mask, the same color and texture decorating the form of the lips, while delicate ornate lines flowed from the mask layer towards the edges, around the large glittering diamond shaped stone in the center of the forehead.

Alyssa's jaw dropped slightly as she gently ran her hand along the white, gold and purple plumage at the top of the mask

"Oh my god, it's so pretty…" she gently placed it back in the box, then opened the next one, her jaw dropping more as she gazed upon the butterfly wing mask "Oh my god, it's __so__ pretty…" She delicately handled it, placing it in her lap before running her fingers on the thin smooth fabric of the dress underneath, then returned her attention to the mask.

She held it between her fingers gently, almost afraid to somehow damage it, as she turned to the Walrider and spoke, wide-eyed and in an awe-stricken light tone

"Can I have this one?.."

The Walrider only briefly glanced at her, mildly confused and amused at her admiration of what were nothing but mere objects to him "You can have whatever you want." Her eyes lit up at the approval that she wasn't even sure why she asked for, before turning back to the mask in her hands; his voice dropped considerably lower as he continued, speaking more to himself "If our cover is blown I am leaving no survivors regardless."

"What?!" Alyssa's voice rose with confusion and concern at the few words she did catch, but he waved a hand dismissively and sat up

"Take the invitations from each box and put them aside, expect a call from one of those two, I spoke to Paul when you were asleep, they have made more preparations."

"Oh? Alright.." as much as she didn't like it, she couldn't ignore the way her heart thumped ever so slightly heavier at the news, sinking deeper the realization that the dreaded event was drawing nearer, but she collected the invitations from the two boxes she already opened.

Lifting the lid of the next one successfully distracted her, her eyes growing wide again upon gazing into the dark round lens of the short beaked porcelain mask, its white main coat decorated around the lightly scowling eyes with a pattern of shimmering gold lined with slick black, flowing down the beak, which was lined with small glittering clear stones.

After gently removing the invitation next to it, she placed it with the others and moved on to the last box. She stared at the skull mask in awe before turning to the Walrider with a smirk

"So which one you gonna choose, huh?"

"The one that conceals the entire head, evidently, I have no choice."

Alyssa blinked in confusion, which was alleviated when she slowly picked up the skull mask and noticed the black cloth mask attached to it

"Oooh… I see. Well then… Can we try them on?" she spoke with a grin as she held it at arm's length towards him, but the nanites on his face only made a lightly puzzled expression, raising an eyebrow at her

"Try whatever you want, I will construct a copy from nanobots, if it was not already obvious." he reached and closed the lid of the laptop on the table, and Alyssa frowned in confusion in return

"What? But… there's color on it! Like this red X!" she placed it back inside the box before turning to him with enthusiasm "And, there's glittery stuff, and, and the tuxedo under it, how many nanites would it take to make everything look believable?" She didn't catch his eye roll.

"The lack of color of a minor detail can be overlooked." she still didn't remove her eyes from him, continuing to watch him intensely with a pout "Constructing the clothing from nanobots would require a significant amount, but there would be more than sufficient numbers left for reconnaissance."

"Oh, come on!" she insisted, drawing a gravelly exhale out of him "Okay fine, I'm not gonna pretend I know your robots better than you do, but still, we don't know what's gonna happen there! What if the place is like, massive? What if a lot more would come in handy, a lot more that you wouldn't have because __you don't want to wear clothes?"__

Her voice steadily increased, emphasizing the last words playfully as she crossed her arms over her chest, then she nearly jumped out of her seat when the phone in her pocket began briefly vibrating and beeping. After pulling it out with haste and reading the message received, she deleted it, then quickly placed the phone back in her pocket and collected all four invitations, tapping them into a neat pile as she spoke

"It's from Pauline, she said to come to the ground floor in the parking lot, same place we met before, black van, ten minutes from now."

She only heard a low rumble from him, which could've easily been mistaken for a growl, before taking the invitations to the bedroom and placing them in a drawer, then returning and bringing the boxes inside her wardrobe.

With minutes to spare until the meeting hour, she grabbed her jacket and headed to the elevator, followed by the Walrider in his disguise. The silence inside the cabin was soon broken by his words, which surprised her in a pleasant manner

"I will wear the useless clothing."

A small smile creeped on her face "Good."

Once inside the parking lot, they headed straight for the same spot they had met Pauline before, and instead of an old model white van, they were met with a slick black one, considerably larger, more modern looking, yet still modest enough to easily blend in.

Glancing around and seeing no sight of any familiar figure, nor sign of life coming from the dark vehicle, Alyssa wasn't sure they were at the right place, until one of the back doors of the van opened, partially revealing Pauline, who quickly signaled them to approach

"What are you waiting for, get in."

Once inside and with the doors securely shut behind them, Alyssa had to do a double take at what she was seeing. Nearly the entire left and right wall of the back of the vehicle were covered with monitors, sturdy, smooth metallic supports were attached below them, on which rested computers, keyboards, phones, headphones, microphones, along with various other gadgets she couldn't identify, with multiple lights either static or blinking on the devices. Pauline returned to her seat on a black leather rolling chair, while Paul interrupted his buttoning on the keyboard and lowered his headphones around his neck

"Does it inspire you confidence or what?" Pauline spoke with amusement upon seeing Alyssa's puzzled expression with a mix of concern

"I.. Well it's impressive, but what is it for exactly?"

"We have to come with you." Paul interjected as he grabbed a thin rectangular dark blue object and placed it on the desk to his left closer to them

"More or less.." Pauline added, crossing her legs and tapping a few keys, her glance drawn by one of the active monitors.

Alyssa took a step closer as Paul pressed the sides of the matte rectangular object, causing it to open like a laptop, its left side occupied by a sort of digital interface with a small display, while on the right she could see the shape of two hands, one larger than the other, encased between what appeared to be two thin glass sheets. Her brows furrowed with both confusion and curiosity, she watched as the man tapped a few buttons on the left side, then after a soft beep, the upper glass layer unlocked and slightly rose up before being fully flipped open by Paul, who then peeled off one of the bizarre glove-like objects.

"As promised, we acquired Mr. Frazier's prints, as well as Meredith's, his wife's." he gently tossed the glove to Alyssa, then peeled and tossed the other one to the Walrider.

The object's surface felt extremely thin and fragile to her hands, being very pale beige, nearly white in color and semi-transparent, it made Alyssa handle it with intense care, frightened that she might accidentally damage it, until Paul spoke up, noticing her apprehension

"Don't worry about it, shouldn't tell you what they're made of but it's damn sturdy. Have a closer look, it was risky bringing in the material to print them but I'd say it was worth it, it's the highest resolution we could make."

His words allowed her to relax and examine the object closer, she had to admit, the detail on it was stunning, its palm was eerily similar to a real person's, as if their very skin was laying in her hand.

The Walrider flowed a small cloud inside the glove, expanding it in its hand shape, suspending it in the air, and while he did examine it visually, more importantly, he marched millions of nanites over its fingerprints, through every artificial groove, pore and wrinkle, the amount of detail surpassed his expectations, understanding he would easily be able to create an exact replica with such a quality model. At most, he expected a two dimensional digital scan or even ink print from which he would have to work out the details, or a substandard rubber glove with inaccuracies that might push him to resort to scanning Frazier's real hands at the event to make up for the model's inadequacy, but no such thing would be necessary with what was basically the man and woman's skin in artificial form in their own hands.

"Yeees…" the low raspy voice and way in which he dragged out the word as he slightly hunched over the glove while it grew increasingly black at the amount of nanites traveling over it made everyone mildly uneasy, Alyssa tried to lean away inconspicuously, but Pauline didn't hide her discomfort

"God, you are one creepy bastard.. How do you sleep with this in the same building?" she turned to Alyssa, who couldn't suppress a nervous chuckle

"In the same bui- right, a-anyway, great work on these, thank you." she handed the glove to the Walrider, who removed the nanites from the other and placed them both in his pocket.

"Yeah well, we're not done, sit." Pauline pulled the third rolling chair from behind her and pushed it towards Alyssa with her leg, which she took and sat closer to the woman's desk as she pulled open a thin drawer and placed a small cube shaped case with a transparent lid in front of her, followed by three more identical objects. With the dark colors and the rather dim light inside the vehicle, she found it difficult to discern what they were, she carefully picked one up and opened its lid as Pauline spoke

"Try not to lose them, will you?"

Upon closer inspection, she managed to gently pluck the tiny microphone and speaker attachment out of its foam home and gazed at it with some confusion but mostly awe at the minuscule size of it, easily fitting on the tip of her finger.

"Is this really..?"

"Mic and earpiece, sits right on the inside of your ear. Two for you two and the other two for our dear mister Waylon and his wife. Which by the way, are you going to tell them about us? I reckon they will be none too happy." Pauline ended with a smirk and amused tone as she turned to her left and began searching.

Alyssa swallowed, unsure what to say and well aware of the reaction the Parks would have to such a revelation, she turned to the Walrider with a silent look of asking for help. Stepping closer, he pocketed the earpieces before speaking with mild uncertainty

"They're unaware of the full extent of what is expected of them, informing them of your identities will depend on how cooperative they will be once they know what this mission entails."

A thoughtful hum came from Pauline before she shrugged "Fair enough, just make sure they don't do anything stupid. Which they shouldn't, since their kid's health is on the line."

She didn't see Paul turn in his chair and give his partner a look, then silently exhale and glance to Alyssa "If you end up telling them about us, tell Park he has my apologies for what happened to his son, for whatever it's worth."

Alyssa nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Pauline did so before her

"It's worth dick all." she glanced at the woman with a frown, who continued "His kid got crippled in a failed assassination attempt on his dad, an attempt carried out by the same corporation you work for, I shouldn't have to remind you."

"You don't understand, you never had children." the man briefly shook his head, but despite his calm tone, Alyssa picked up on his mildly upset demeanor

"How is your daughter doing, Mr. Marion?" she spoke in a lower, softer voice, and she caught his expression relax somewhat before he turned back towards his monitors

"She is well, stable, for now.. thank you."

"If you're done-" Pauline interjected, finishing her search, placing a couple of small, white paper boxes in front of Alyssa, then tapping several keys on her keyboard, followed by two of the monitors on their side turning on and displaying dark grey images. "We have stuff we need to go through. Go on."

With mild hesitation, Alyssa opened one of the boxes, and at first, it was the beautiful necklace that caught her attention, but moments later it was the monitor in front of Pauline, which appeared to display an image that was directly above the necklace. Experimentally, she slowly moved her hand over it, then blinked in surprise when she saw it on the monitor, moving in real time.

"Oh.. I see what we're doing here. You're gonna do surveillance from afar with this, aren't you?"

Pauline nodded with a small smirk "As 'afar' as we can, it would be nice if we could sit right here but the signal is quite short, we'll have to stalk around Frazier's mansion and find a bush to hide behind while you go in. Needless to say, the concealed cameras in the necklaces will be our eyes inside."

"Right.." Alyssa nearly whispered, her eyes returning to the necklace, silver and shimmering as much as it could in the dim light, shaped as a wide form fitting collar around the neck, decorated with silver stones at the top and bottom edge, with an inch long tear shaped blue stone hanging by two fine silver chains.

Opening the other package, her eyes lingered on the necklace inside as well, gleaming gold with interlocking pieces growing thicker as it descended downwards into a V-shaped cluster of clear sparkling stones from which a larger, diamond shaped red stone hanged by multiple golden threads.

"As for security, or at least as much as we can cover remotely.." Paul interjected, handing the Walrider a grey USB flash drive "Obviously, they're gonna have video surveillance, and on top of that, some of the locks are engaged through their digital security system, which can be accessed from a security control room, which obviously we don't know where it would be since we never stepped foot in there, you're gonna have to find it, connect that flash drive to their main system, and we'll take it from there. That is, of course, if you want us to disable their surveillance, you could always, I don't know, destroy the cameras, though that might prove.. too conspicuous."

"As for you and Lisa.." Pauline spoke as soon as her partner finished and pushed a plastic bag towards Alyssa before turning back and searching through a drawer "That's the hair dye and contacts, make sure it matches, anything we can do to avoid drawing suspicion if anyone does recognize you as the people you're gonna impersonate." When she turned back around, she placed a DVD in a clear case without a label in front of her, and spoke in a more serious tone upon noticing the questioning look Alyssa gave her

"Look, we gotta make this clear if it wasn't already, there __is__ a chance you're going to be identified as the Millers and Rawlins by people who know them, and if that happens, it would be real useful if you had an idea about how they talk and act, so you'd have a chance at remaining undercover even in that case. This right here" Pauline tapped the disk's case "This is home videos of those people, listen to how they speak, watch how they move." A look of dread already set on Alyssa's face, her hand rose to her temple, but Pauline insisted " _ _Just in case__ they find you out, it's unlikely, but you should still be prepared for it."

"I'm.. I don't think I can change my voice, I never tried it." she hesitantly picked up the necklace boxes and placed them in the plastic bag with the other items, but avoided touching the disk.

"Honestly, Lydia doesn't sound that different from you, she has a slight English accent, you'll hear it in the videos and pick it up easily enough, trust me, it's not that hard, you don't have to be a lifelong spy for this."

A deep sigh left Alyssa "If being identified is a problem, why did we get their masks and outfits? What if they talked to people there about what they're gonna wear? Wouldn't it be easier to go unnoticed with different attires?"

She didn't catch Pauline's eye roll "Number one, we don't know if they spoke to anyone about what they're gonna wear, we can't be sure, but we did some digging between them and their personal contacts and nothing came up, number two, what different outfits were you gonna wear? Do you have several grand to blow on just one dress, mask and jewelry? Let alone four? Do you have any idea how expensive the crap these people wear is?"

Alyssa waved her hand at the woman to stop talking "Fine, fine, I understand.."

"Now, back to the voice issue, as for him.." Pauline glanced to the Walrider who stood with his arms crossed, his patience slowly draining "Obviously Vincent doesn't sound like a demon that smokes five packs a day, so there's no getting away with it, he needs to avoid talking, at all costs, the moment he utters a word to anyone who thinks he's Vincent and knows what Vincent sounds like, we're all screwed, alright?.. And.. and I think that's about it." she tapped a few buttons on a laptop's keyboard before closing the device "Oh, and I'm sure Waylon and Lisa won't like this learning to impersonate business either but hey, you guys need Frazier dead, right? Work for it." the unsettling casual tone returned to Pauline's voice as she spoke of murder, drawing a slight frown on Alyssa's face

"As far as I'm concerned, this is mostly about the evidence that would ruin Blaire, and affect Murkoff in turn. Not the.. murder.." her voice dropped to almost a whisper as she finished, the concern and unease in her tone and mannerisms not escaping Paul, who watched them quietly for a few moments before speaking with some hesitation

"Perhaps we should tell them about Frazier and his father."

Pauline turned to her partner with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms "And why's that? It doesn't serve anything."

"Maybe, maybe not. Still think they ought to know."

"Know what?" the Walrider interjected roughly, the drain of his patience apparent in his tone "You have done your jobs already, get on with this."

"She's right, it's not important for what we have to do, and it's highly confidential, I just thought.." Paul remained hesitant, glancing away from everyone, until Alyssa drew his attention

"Thought what? Hey, even if it's not directly connected, I think we should have as much information as possible."

The man's shoulder slumped with a sigh, taking a few silent moments before speaking "It's public knowledge that Frazier's father, Edwin Frazier, owns the BlueBaron airlines.. What's not so public knowledge is the fact that they use it for human trafficking, smuggling people in cargo planes and using their connections to keep it covert. Naturally, hefty bribes and even removing the occasional potential snitch is not uncommon in the business."

As the man spoke, Alyssa's expression gradually turned more and more concerned and disgusted, she swallowed and shook her head lightly "Just… lovely."

"As I said, it's not important for the job ahead, and I didn't say it to frighten you, I only thought you should have more information about the people we're dealing with, other than how to kill them. Use it as you see fit."

"Anything else?" Pauline interjected, idly turning side to side in her chair. Alyssa placed the disk along with everything else in the plastic bag she was given, but the Walrider spoke before she did

"Yes, have either of you any leads on Wernicke's whereabouts?"

The question took Alyssa by surprise, but not so much the other two "Huh? Did you have them track Wernicke?"

Paul turned to a monitor and tapped a few keys "'Track' him is a tall order, since Wernicke was such a valuable asset.. But yeah, we had a short call some nights ago, and I'm afraid not, his whereabouts are far above our clearance, plus we've been busy prepping for this mission."

Pauline scoffed "Not like we'd have much of a chance if we dedicated to it anyway.. If it wasn't obvious already, Project Walrider is easily one of the most classified and top priority operations Murkoff's ever conducted, and Wernicke was not just the head of it or any valuable asset, he's an Operation Paperclip war asset, locating him after Murkoff took him.. God, you'd have a better chance of finding a needle in a sea of haystacks."

Silence fell inside the vehicle for a few long moments, only disturbed by the deep rumble, borderline growl, from the swarm "Give me your educated guess, who or what is most likely to be in charge of relocating Wernicke?"

Pauline's eyebrows raised slightly "Well, if we're gonna go this route, it's true that the BlueBaron airline is a candidate, the Fraziers' planes aren't just for smuggling people, they use the fancy ones to fly themselves and their friends and business associates internationally. It's far from certain but there is a chance they could've been in charge of moving the old man, we'll try to look into it if we must, if you give us some time to freaking breathe after this party ordeal is over."

"Think we'll all need time to breathe after that.." Alyssa commented more to herself, slowly standing up and stepping next to the Walrider, who placed his hand on the door handle in front of her, but didn't open it

"Is he even still alive?" the displeasure in his tone at the question was noticeable, but Pauline spoke confidently

"If you think Murkoff's gonna let someone like him die on them, you're in for a surprise. Because if you think just because they lost you, they're done with this nanobots business.." she reached into her jacket and pulled a pack of cigarettes before continuing with a smirk "Boy, you are in for a __big__ surprise."

Alyssa swallowed at the woman's words, the concern on her face stretching the woman's smirk

"Relax, honey.. Murkoff are entangled in this legal mess for the time being." she placed a cigarette between her lips "Not all departments, naturally, but once it's over.. It's back to business as usual."

"You're assuming they're going to get away with this." Alyssa crossed her arms as she threw a glance at the woman, who only shrugged casually

"You know what they say about assuming. Let's just say I've been there for many of these legal affairs, and it never goes well for our dear plaintiffs."

"I know of Murkoff's legal history, I followed it for years, but this is different!" Alyssa's voice rose defensively "They've never had to deal with evidence of this caliber."

Her scowl deepened upon seeing the way Pauline slowly shook her head "And __I've__ been there for years, on the __inside.__ Look, I get what you're doing, you're so invested because it was your ass who went through the asylum to get that footage, I watched it, it's convincing, just don't expect a miracle."

Alyssa made an effort to keep her voice from rising further, she had reasonable doubts about the trial's success, but she couldn't help but feel that calling it a miracle was too far

"A miracle?! But it's.."

"Enough." she flinched upon hearing the Walrider's harsh tone "The trial and evidence are secondary, we have a mission to carry out. Are we done here?" he glanced to the two agents, Pauline exhaled deeply and Paul nodded

"Basically, yes. We have two days until the event, we will send more information, if it's via text, as usual, delete upon reading."

"Have fun, pussycats." Pauline added with amusement, leaning back in her chair and reaching for her lighter while the Walrider pushed the door open and slammed it behind them.

A long deep sigh left Alyssa as they began walking away, she broke the silence only after they were nearly out of the parking lot

"The trial and evidence are secondary?.. Are you serious?" while she spoke with hesitation, he replied immediately

"To me. You can put your faith in them if you prefer, I will keep my focus on dealing with this personally, the only way I know will yield the results I want."

The rest of the short trip was spent in silence, and once they returned to the hotel, she placed all the gadgets safely in her bedroom.


	43. Chapter 43

As the hours passed, Alyssa considered attempting to dye her own hair, then dismissed the idea, recalling how important it was for everything to be as proper as possible, and continued the wait for the arrival of the Parks. Idly channel surfing from the living room, she once again caught sight through the corner of her eye of the Walrider floating by outside, on the balcony surrounding nearly the entire penthouse, his inky silhouette followed by a dark trail of nanites near his feet.

Alyssa couldn't be sure of it, but the way he glided around, at a relatively fast speed, almost made it appear as if he was impatient or restless. That, coupled with the thought that crossed her mind, was enough to make her get up from the sofa and head to the balcony that, admittedly, despite its size and sturdy construction, still made her feel some manner of uneasy.

Once she slid the glass door open and stepped outside, however, the swarm was already out of sight, so she headed down to the right. Her short search was interrupted when she was about to step past the corner, from where the dark figure emerged along with a brief sharp scream from her as she took a few frantic steps back, her panic then abruptly deflating, assisted by the sound of his voice and by the grasp on her arm to prevent her from closing in the distance to the railing

"Alyssa!"

"I'm fine!" she placed a hand on her chest to calm her thumping heart and removed the other from his grasp "I'm sorry, I.. I don't know why my brain just went back to that time in the asylum.."

Throwing a quick glance down, the rather uncommon sight of the dark cloud of nanites hovering at their feet, partially obscuring her own up to her ankles did draw her attention, but she returned to the matter at hand

"Anyway.. It just crossed my mind, I don't know why the Pauls didn't mention it, but, about that laptop, if it has a password, don't you think we could just 'ask' Frazier himself to give us said pass…" her voice slowly faded, a disappointed expression growing on her face, she waved her hand dismissively when the swarm gave her a curious look "Nevermind… That scare must've knocked some sense into me, I just now realized it probably wouldn't work, he'd have nothing to win, I mean, even if you could convince him that he could walk away with his life if he told you the password or decrypt it for us or whatever, he knows damn well what's on his laptop, he knows it would completely ruin his life, he'd be dead either way…"

"Yes." when he crossed his arms, she could see some of the light from the sun reflecting on the surface of his body in an almost metallic fashion "There is a small chance that his wife might be able to grant us access, however."

"If she's in on it, maybe.. We should ask the Pauls when we can, I know they could crack it without a password but it would take a while, and I really don't like the idea of them taking that laptop away with them."

"The device will not leave our sight, they will work on it here."

Alyssa spoke with amusement "Then that's even more reason to want it done as fast as possible. Anyway.. are you alright? You seem kinda.. restless?"

She didn't want to pay attention to the few but noticeable chills on her spine upon hearing a low raspy exhale with the hint of an echo leaving the swarm, followed by a small cloud of nanites flowing away from where his nose would be in a smoke-like pattern

"Evening will be here shortly, and there is still no sign of the humans, they need to arrive and uphold their side of the agreement."

Alyssa swallowed and glanced towards west where the sun was slowly but surely approaching dusk, she had to admit, the absence of the Parks was raising her concerns as well.

Nearly a full hour later, when she was making a snack in the kitchen, the tea spoon of fruit jam dropped from her hand and clinked onto the marble table upon hearing the loud ringing of the hotel phone, mere feet away, and her confusion was alleviated upon speaking to the receptionist lady

"Yes? … What is she wearing? … Oh, her, yes! … Y-yes we've been waiting for them, send them up, thank you."

With some excitement and nervousness, she headed to the entrance doors, throwing a glance into the living room and seeing the swarm sitting on an armchair, his head leaned back in a seemingly bored, lazy manner. It was another minute until she heard the door bell, and when she looked through the peephole, as expected, she was met with the sight of Lisa, her hair still dirty blonde, a couple of scratches on her face, a large stuffed backpack on her back, wearing a long turquoise robe, holding its face concealing headdress and purse on one arm, while in the other hand, she held the hand of the young boy, the hood of his long jacket covering his head, as he in turn held onto the leash of the orange tabby cat. What made her bite her lip with some sadness was the sight of the folded up wheelchair Lisa pulled from her other hand.

Alyssa had more or less forgotten the manner in which they had last split up from the family, and despite the somber reminder of what had happened while they had been separated, she was only glad to see them as safe and sound as they could've been, she opened the door with a smile

"Hey! Come on in."

As they stepped inside, Lisa greeted her with a brief, mostly empty smile and a mumbled "hey", it was easy to see the woman was concerned and uneasy. On the other hand, Sam quickly began glancing around in awe as they followed Alyssa, while Peanut started sniffing the new environment.

"Waylon and Alex are coming later?"

Lisa only nodded as she too began looking around, partly in surprise, partly in suspicion, while Alyssa continued

"I would ask how you guys have been but.. I spoke to him, we all know what's going on."

A heavy sigh left Lisa "So you're sure this place is safe?"

"Yes!" Alyssa replied quickly "We've been here for over a week, no sign of danger, in the middle of a huge city, busy hotel, trust me, only safer place would be a nuclear bunker or something." a brief chuckle left her, some uneasiness growing in her as she recalled that they were almost in the living room where the Walrider waited.

Once they stepped inside and into view of the swarm, she wasn't too surprised to hear a gasp from Lisa and watch her flinch, then instinctively pull Sam partly behind her, whose jaw dropped open, mostly in disbelief and with some fear as well, while Peanut froze in place, his tiny body tensing up and eyes fixating on the entity ahead of him that his senses told him was not natural.

Alyssa swallowed in discomfort "Lisa.. this can't be a surprise. Please, try to relax, Waylon must've told you the four of us will be needed for the.. event ahead." she gently signaled to the sofa furthest away from the Walrider "Please, have a seat."

The woman exhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves and the raised hairs on the back of her neck, then lightly shook her head "I know.. I.. I'm sorry, we've been through so much in such a short time, especially after we split up." she slowly removed her backpack and robe, revealing the sundress Alyssa had last seen her in, then pushed the folded up wheelchair behind the sofa and pulled Sam close as they took a seat, the boy placing the cat in his lap and petting it, trying to soothe the unsettled animal.

Alyssa sat relatively close to the woman, giving her space but also wanting to comfort her, feeling sorry for what had happened to the family, especially once they had split up, unable to shake the feeling that she held some of the blame

"Don't worry about it, we're safe here, I'm just.. I'm really sorry we had to separate like that last time, I kept thinking about it, if I had insisted more to stick together, maybe it wouldn't had happened, at least, not this bad."

Lisa shook her head slowly, partly trying to shake away the chills down her spine as she couldn't help but briefly glance at the swarm in the opposite armchair, his skeletal foot resting over his other knee as he leaned back, occasionally glancing in their direction, the inhuman face formed by the nanites being more than uncomfortable for her to look at even for brief moments

"Don't say that, if anyone's to blame, it's me, I don't know what I was thinking, I got really scared, really afraid for them." the woman pulled down the hood from Sam and ran her hand over his head protectively "Anyway, now that we're here, when can we talk about it in more details?"

Alyssa briefly thought about it, but the Walrider spoke before she did, his gravelly inhuman voice making the new visitors flinch

"There is nothing to discuss until the other human has arrived, I am not explaining this twice."

Lisa swallowed, but nodded "Understandable.."

Although the woman still seemed uneasy, Alyssa hoped there would be no more arguments or tensions "Do you know when Waylon and Alex are coming?"

"We settled for a roughly twenty minute gap, long enough to make it safer but short enough to not be separated for too long, I guess. They'll be here shortly, hopefully."

Alyssa nodded reassuringly "Can I get you something to drink, meanwhile? It's getting late, we should have dinner soon."

The woman shook her head at first, but then changed her mind "Actually, my mouth is dry, probably from all the stress, a glass of water would be nice, please. Are you thirsty, honey?" glancing to her son, the young boy nodded and spoke up, semi-timidly

"I want soda."

His mother exhaled, but Alyssa flashed a smile as she headed to the kitchen and returned with a tall glass of icy water and a can of cold soda that the two gratefully took.

Alyssa wasn't sure if time passed quicker than she realized while they chatted or if Waylon had arrived quicker than expected, as what felt like only minutes later, the doorbell made Lisa flinch, who then followed her to the door.

Glancing through the peephole for assurance, the sight on the other side of the door gave her mixed feelings, on one hand, she was glad to see Waylon and Alex arriving safely, on the other, the way the man carried his son on his back pulled at her heartstrings more than she anticipated, even though she was well aware of the state of the boy's health.

As she opened the door, she tried to force a friendly, inviting smile "Glad to see you safe, come on in."

Waylon nodded, his breath mildly ragged as he spoke "You too, hey."

Both the man and his son wore jackets with their hoods raised over their heads and ball caps, attempting to obscure their identities as much as possible when in public, while Waylon arrived with a large suitcase and the boy with a backpack. Guided by his wife and Alyssa, the man took his son into the living room, where he briefly stopped dead in his tracks and the boy whispered, his eyes growing wide as saucers and brows furrowing

"Holy shit…"

The deep gravelly rumble from the swarm could've easily been mistaken for a growl by the newcomers before he spoke, his tone partly somewhat bored, partly mildly impatient

"Sit down, Park, you need to know the full extent of what this mission entails, and what is expected of you."

Lisa helped her husband lower their son onto the sofa next to her and his brother, while Waylon removed his cap and jacket and sat on the armchair next to them, but his wife spoke up before he did, albeit in a noticeably uneasy manner

"And.. how you will help us if we agree to assist, right?"

Alyssa sat on the sofa closest to the swarm, and, due to her distance, she didn't think anyone else heard the brief but distinct growl from him, so low that she barely caught it herself. What she did catch easier, was the sight of his claws tightening on the armchair, digging into the soft material.

She swallowed before intervening with an undertone of nervousness "Yes, of course.. We will keep our end of the deal, but please keep in mind you're not just helping us, this is in your best interest as well, in a few days Frazier will join the trial to do his best to get Murkoff out of this legal mess, and most importantly, the evidence of Jeremy Blaire on that laptop would do wonders for the case against them."

Waylon nodded with interest, but then glanced to his children, whose faces displayed a mixture of confusion and some fear "That's true, but first, Alyssa, is there a room we could have the kids wait in the meantime? I don't want them listening to.."

"O-of course!" Alyssa quickly stood up, walked up to the stairs at the side of the room and waited for Lisa to help Waylon with their son before taking her youngest's hand in one and pulling the folded up wheelchair with the other hand.

Once at the top of the stairs, she spoke up as they walked past Billy's room, keeping her voice lower "This bedroom is occupied by.. a friend of ours, please don't disturb him, he's been through a lot.. My bedroom is downstairs if you ever can't find me and there's two more free ones right over there" she vaguely pointed towards two doors situated some distance behind the glass railing "And the bathroom is that one over there and another one downstairs, get comfortable."

After flashing a smile, she turned to leave after barely catching a few words of gratitude, returning downstairs, her polite expression shifting back into concern once she had her back to them. As she walked past the swarm to get to her sofa, she suppressed a yelp when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled to sit on his leg. The gesture made her instantly even more nervous, even though they were momentarily out of sight, she still attempted to get away, until she was made to sit still by the vice hold of his arm around her back, pulling her to his chest, and the stern yet oddly soothing and persuasive voice in her head

 ** _Relax… You exude distress worse than when we were at the hospital._**

Alyssa exhaled deeply, trying to calm down mentally and emotionally, slowly shaking her head on his chest, briefly distracted by the smooth velvety sensation on her forehead

"I'll try but dammit, once they know what this is about they'll freak out, they know what's at stake but even so, we're gonna ask them to just waltz into the lion's den…"

As soon as she heard approaching footsteps upstairs, she quickly hopped over to her own sofa and waited for the return of the two Parks. Once they did, Lisa sat on the sofa across from her, and Waylon next to his wife, but not without first taking the cat on his lap, removing the long thin leash from him, but leaving the red harness on.

"This fucking cat.." a tired sigh left the man as he petted Peanut "This cat saved the lives of my children."

Alyssa blinked in surprise, giving the man a confused look, while Lisa glanced at the pet with mixed feelings of affection and sadness

"A while after we split up, he got scared by some asshole in a truck honking the horn, ran off, Sam got scared, bought a leash for Peanut after we barely found him, kept him safe.." Waylon laughed a partly amused, partly miserable chuckle "Should've seen us, a grumpy confused teen, a ten year old on the verge of tears, an upset mom, and dad chasing after a cat, under people's cars, in a small town in the middle of nowhere.."

Alyssa lightly bit her lip to make her smile go away, she had to admit, as upsetting as the events that happened after they had split up had been, it was an oddly amusing mental image.

Waylon's tone then got considerably more serious "Like I told you some on the phone, we rented a car.."

"He should take another dose of pain medicine." Lisa interjected under her breath, towards her husband as she began rummaging through her purse, before the man gently placed his hand on hers and stopped her

"It's fine, honey, it's only been a few hours.. Anyway, we rented this car but it was a few hours later that we were ready to leave the town. Time enough for them to plant the bomb, I guess.." the man's voice faded, but Alyssa continued to listen curiously, grateful that the Walrider hadn't interrupted yet

"Like I said on the phone, must've been some sort of timed proximity trigger or something, the kids were impatient to leave but Lisa and I were arguing about.. fucking useless shit that nearly cost us so much, doesn't matter now, we were farthest away from the car, Alex was the closest, and Sam started running past him to the car, I think I heard a sort of.. clicking sound at that point, not sure, maybe my mind is making it up now but, then the leash slipped from Sam's hand and Peanut ran away, the boy immediately chased him, away from the car, Alex stepped after him too, obviously not far enough, and then.."

Waylon's words faded again, his wife placed a hand on his shoulder affectionately before he finally finished "It went off.."

He ran a hand down the cat's coat again before handing him to his wife "What happened to Alex, it's crushing me, but Jesus, imagine if he hadn't ran, if Sam hadn't chased him, if Alex hadn't taken those few steps away from the car. It would've made a catastrophic difference."

Alyssa ran a hand down her own mane with some disbelief, her eyes still wide upon hearing the story "I.. Wow, I'm not really sure what to say, apart from the obvious extremely lucky break."

"Lucky?" Lisa exhaled with mixed feelings of relief as she stroked the cat's fur "Yeah, to say the least, he was a godsend"

"Anyway.." Waylon interjected, hesitantly glancing to the Walrider "We should move on to business."

Alyssa swallowed, her unease returning within moments and her gaze dropping to the floor.

* * *

It felt like nearly an hour had passed by the time they explained the situation, the plan, and the details, and much to Alyssa's chagrin, her foreboding feeling revealed to be accurate.

"This.. this is _insane,_ Alyssa, how can you agree to this? Walking in there with those people, those human traffickers, do you have any idea how wrong this could go?" Lisa questioned, her brows furrowed in a deeply concerned frown, while a deep sigh left her husband, who sat hunched over, his hands clasped together thoughtfully.

Alyssa raised her hand to her temple and rubbed the side of her head in exasperation "I'm well aware, Lisa.. How many more times must we repeat the.. potential reward for us. We could weaken Murkoff, make them lose the trial, expose Blaire, a freakin face of the corporation and owner of the asylum!"

"At what risk?!" the woman raised her voice, her distress clear "Trying to learn how those people talk to impersonate them, going there with their masks, not blowing our cover, finding that laptop, good god, it sounds insane enough by itself, but add in that the host is a human trafficker? Do you _understand_ what human trafficking is?"

"Don't patronize me." Alyssa snapped quickly, her tone turning strict "I know damn well what it involves, I researched it along with countless other illegal operations for years, I worked my ass off for no reward day and night with activist groups to uncover conspiracies and help the victims, I know what fucking human trafficking is."

A deep exhale left the woman as she made an effort to calm down "I'm sorry.. Then you understand why I can clearly see the image of us kidnapped and chained to a radiator in some.." her words faded with disgust, but before she could find them again, the Walrider interjected, his voice mildly startling her

"The risk of that possibility is precisely zero, since if our cover is blown, I will have no choice but to eliminate anyone in the know."

Alyssa pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them, while Lisa's jaw slightly dropped and she blinked a few times in surprise

"Oh… Oh, so this is the plan, huh? Plan B, just _murder_ more people?"

"Sounds like a solid backup plan." Waylon interjected, drawing his wife's frown of disbelief as he leaned back in his seat "Look, I don't like it any more than you do, but damn, less lawyers defending Murkoff and Blaire exposed as the heinous scumbag he is? Baby, believe me, that would help us a lot in the long run, Blaire is directly connected to the asylum, the trial basically revolves around him. I'm not saying I'm in yet, makes my damn skin crawl just thinking about stepping in that mansion.. But I think it would be worth the risk if we could do it."

Lisa only continued to gaze at her husband in disbelief as the cogs in her mind spun.

"Security personnel will be light, you say? What are the chances of us catching a bullet if we get found before you snuff them out?" Waylon questioned, only deepening the frown on his wife's face

The Walrider's shoulders briefly rose in a shrug "Mild, we would do well to remain in relative proximity to one another so I could quickly intervene in the unlikely case of such an emergency."

"And even if you do." Alyssa placed her feet down and a hand on her stomach "I took nine bullets around here and I'm a-ok, so.." the smile on her face made the two give her an odd look.

Lisa crossed her legs and rubbed her temple, feeling more than a little mentally and emotionally exhausted at the influx of information from the past hour, and the weight of the decision and risk involved on their shoulders

"I will never condone murder, the only time I will not condemn it is when it's about self-defense.." the woman started, and her husband quickly interjected

"Well it kinda is, in a roundabout way. Murkoff want to off us, Frazier's trying to enable them, to increase their chances."

"Ugh, if you would let me finish, I was going to say, not only would we be going there to help kill a man, but we'd also be directly responsible for anyone else he'd kill if we got found out. Honestly, Waylon, do you want that kind of weight on your shoulders? Knowing someone died because of you?"

Her words appeared to strike a chord in her husband, as he slowly crossed his arms, leaned back and briefly closed his eyes

"If you're gonna go that way.." he started, his voice low with an undertone of guilt "A lot of people already died because of me, because I didn't blow the whistle soon enough."

Lisa swallowed, her expression somewhat softening as she spoke more calmly "That's different.."

"Maybe so, but it's similar in some ways too, we all know what kind of people attend those parties, right? What kind of people human traffickers surround themselves with. Maybe some are as innocent as you can get, but most are shady as shit." he raised his hand to silence his wife when she attempted to interrupt him "I'm not saying they all deserve to die, god dammit, but in a way, they're a lot like the asylum inmates, done a lot of dirty shit to get where they are, to be surrounded by the people they are, only difference is some of the looneys were too far gone to realize what they were doing is wrong. Frazier and his lot know damn well what they're doing.. If we were to do it, we'd still do our best to stay under the radar, but in case anything happens.. I'm not unfamiliar with being responsible for the deaths of shady assholes."

A long pained sigh left the woman, she suspected Waylon was dealing with guilt issues, but in the short and chaotic time they had since he arrived home that dreaded morning, they never had the time to properly discuss it or find a way to deal with it.

"What do we even do if we refuse?" Waylon questioned her, slightly hunching over in his seat "Go on the road again? We still haven't even left Colorado, hell, a big reason why we're safe here is _because_ we're still so close to the asylum, they're out there looking for us while we're under their noses here, what do we do, go out there again? I'm not trying to imply we should go to that hellish fucking party or convince you of anything, I'm genuinely asking you, after what happened with Alex, do we really go back out there now?"

Lisa placed her arms around herself and slowly shook her head as she tried to think of a viable solution, but Alyssa spoke up before she could

"Hey, don't sweat it, you could always stay here, right?" she threw a very quick glance at the Walrider, who didn't appear to protest, or, at least didn't have the time to, as Lisa questioned

"Stay here? Look at this place, where would we have the money? It would probably cost a full month's wage for the four of us alone."

"Ah, no worries, if I know him, we'll just go rob some Murkoff people." Alyssa waved a hand dismissively and nodded towards the swarm playfully with a smile that did more to confuse and further concern the woman than alleviate her worries.

From the corner of her eye, Alyssa noticed the Walrider turn his head towards her, and even if she hadn't, she could feel his gaze on her, making her tense up, yet she did her best to appear calm and not return his gaze; it was true that he had planned to rob another Murkoff associate when their money ran out, but it was solely so they could keep the hotel's penthouse as their headquarters and for Alyssa to be in a safe place, four other people did not factor in his plans and were unwelcome.

"I.. don't know.. I really don't." Lisa somewhat struggled to get her words out, her gaze remaining on the floor. A soft sigh left Waylon, who also thoughtfully stared ahead at nothing in particular, attempting to come up with a solution.

"I'm sorry we had to put this dilemma on you.. Obviously there was no way to tell you all the details on the phone.." Alyssa spoke softly under her breath, only receiving a vague nod from Waylon, before thoughtful silence engulfed the room, only rarely interrupted by a few words exchanged between him and his wife.

As over a minute passed with no solution or decision, Alyssa tensed up more at the growing sense of impatience and mild hostility she began sensing in the room, there was no question to whom it belonged. She bit her lip lightly and hoped for a positive turn of events.

"Enough of this." the strict, borderline harsh voice of the swarm startled everyone, even more so as he stood up, floated next to his armchair and crossed his arms "If you are not going to cooperate, make yourselves scarce, I will find another way to eliminate Frazier. You understand well enough what is at stake, what we have to gain from this, and your roles within it, but if you refuse to assist us, then leave this place. Take your brat, and the crippled one, and never return here."

A saddened expression grew on Alyssa's face at his harsh words, crushing her hopes that he would allow them to stay with them, then Waylon stood up as well

"Fine, look.. This is a huge decision for us, could we have some time to discuss it thoroughly, in private? And if we agree that we can't do it, we'll be out of your hair in no time, no ifs or buts about it."

The echoey, gravelly exhale coming from the swarm as he slightly hunched over made the couple tense up further, then relax when he nodded towards the stairs behind him, and floated to the side, towards Alyssa and away from them. Without another word, they walked upstairs in a mildly hurried manner, checking on their children first, then stepping into the other empty bedroom and shutting the door behind them.

Alyssa leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and placing her arm over her face to block the light "Shit… That went about as good as I expected…" she continued after a brief pause and receiving no reply "Another way to take out Frazier? Guess the Pauls could help us with that but.. this was more about that evidence.."

"Which is why they ought to cooperate, they understand well enough it is in their best interest."

A tired exhale left Alyssa, while she agreed, she could also easily see the logic behind their hesitation "They're scared.. I understand that much, I am too.."

Slowly, she stood up and made her way to the kitchen, shadowed by the swarm "Yet you are reasonable enough to partake, despite the same risks."

Stepping over to the refrigerator, she began taking some food out and placing it on the counter while he leaned against the door frame, his skeletal feet still inches above the gleaming tiles

"Well, a difference is that I don't have children.. let alone one with brand new severe health issues.. No one's depending on me."

"Yes, the brat whose injuries we made the very deal on."

"Which is why it surprises me they're _this_ hesitant… They must be really scared for all of them.." A couple minutes later, there was still no sound of footsteps walking about upstairs or approaching "I'm just.. gonna make something to eat for me and Billy, if they decide they're gonna stay and help us, them too, if not.. God help them, us all.." her last words came out more as a whisper for herself as she threw a glance into the living room, only to see no sign of anyone coming from upstairs.

Several minutes later, as Alyssa returned to the living room, her heart began thumping slightly faster upon noticing the couple walking down the stairs and approaching with still concerned expressions

"We've.. come to a decision, more or less.." Waylon started reluctantly, drawing Alyssa's nervous attention and the Walrider's impatient gaze, then Lisa continued, her speech and mannerisms considerably more demanding than her husband's

"To get straight to the point, the only way in which we're coming is if my son walks first. I need to see him healthy and well before we dive head first into this madness."

The woman's pressing request gave Alyssa pause, she had a bad feeling about it, which was confirmed when the Walrider replied, his voice low but dripping with exasperation

"You have no clue what you speak of, I began examining your sprog's condition the moment he set foot here, his paralysis is caused by fractures to his T9 through T12 vertebrae, to his femurs, and extensive nerve damage, it would take a week to restore his ability to walk, we have two days until the event."

The Walrider's stern words appeared to collapse Lisa's demanding demeanor, her expectant expression being replaced by thoughtful concern.

"Jesus.." Waylon mumbled as he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

Alyssa bit her lip with unease, the cogs in her mind spun for a few moments; she took a step closer to the swarm, gently placing her hand on his forearm

"How much could you do in two days, though?"

The disgruntled rumble from him drew their attention, but his words sparked the first feeling of hope they had in a long time "Fix the nerve damage, restore tactile sensation, and nothing more in merely forty-eight hours. Bone reconstruction is severely time consuming."

"Y-yes, he can't feel his legs!" Lisa interjected with hopeful urgency "Start with that, fix that first and we'll help you, yeah? And the rest after we come back." she glanced to her husband, who also suddenly seemed a lot more lively and nodded

"Sounds like a good start, yeah, alright we're in."

The final agreement lifted Alyssa's spirits as well, a wide smile stretched on her lips "Good to finally have you on board."

"So.." Lisa spoke quickly again, throwing a glance up the stairs, then a reluctant one at the Walrider "When are you gonna begin? I don't wanna rush anyone but" a brief, partly amused, mostly nervous exhale left her "Just wanna make sure we'll have the time."

The swarm slowly raised his hand up to his chest, only to shake it once towards the floor, removing all the nanites from his forearm in one motion, while others from his body moved in to cover the exposed skeletal forearm, and the detached ones formed a small cloud that floated above the floor and began gliding up the stairs, towards the room the children were in.

Lisa's jaw dropped with some fear and confusion, she briefly glanced at the dark cloud then at the two in front of her "I don't understand, aren't you going to go ups-"

"Tissue regeneration…" the Walrider spoke slowly as he crossed his arms over his chest "Does not _require_ my presence or visual analysis."

The woman swallowed and vaguely nodded, then pulled her husband by the arm upstairs, whose gaze was still following the dark cloud with some awe at the surreal sight, Alyssa barely caught her words, spoken more as a mumble while they departed after it, into the children's room

"Thank you, we'll go watch.. over.."

Judging from the way he spoke, it was easy for Alyssa to tell he was still irate, she bit her lip but it didn't make her smirk go away

"There we go, we got their help, we got a full team, only a few minor things to take care of and we're ready. And you're still grumpy."

His calm but serious tone made her smile fade, however

"I detest relying on others."

In a way, she could understand and relate to the feeling, but for the time being, she was content with having acquired the help they needed. Before she could think of anything to say, the glass door to the balcony sliding open startled her at first, then she quietly watched him float towards it, before turning back to the kitchen, with the expanded task of preparing dinner for four more people.

She had to admit, she was glad that Lisa didn't spend too much time in the room with her children, likely realizing there was nothing for her to see or do, and instead came to help her with the food. Being in the woman's company as they prepared dinner and idly chatted gave her mixed feelings, on one hand, it was a heavy weight off her shoulders to finally have their agreement to join them at the party, but at the same time, the thought kept surfacing in her mind that they had refused to tell them what the source of all the information was, she fully expected another scandal to ensue once they were told who their informants were, and while she didn't look forward to it, what she dreaded the most was the possibility of the news being a deal breaker.

She made a mental note to speak to the Walrider about it, privately, as soon as she could find him, considering he was nowhere in sight and the short search she conducted earlier yielded no results.

Once the oversized table in the dining room was set, Lisa went to get her family, and Alyssa slowly followed behind, but paused in the living room, idly glancing at the TV, then through the glass into the balcony. In the dim light, she could barely make out a silhouette near the distant railing, and squinting did not increase the clarity of her vision or the light outside.

Just as she took a step towards the sliding glass door, she paused once the family began approaching from the level above, heading past her towards the dining room. Her gaze remained up at the stairs, she swallowed in apprehension, knowing it was only a matter of time until Billy had to meet Waylon, and that time was likely mere minutes away. With some hesitation, she walked up to his door and knocked, hearing some footsteps only moments later, followed by Billy's face through the cracked open door

"Is it food time yet?" he asked with playfully wide eyes, and she only nodded, mostly failing to force a smile, before slowly making her way back down the stairs.

"What's all the freakin commotion anyway?" Billy spoke louder than necessary, following behind her as he raised a hand to his face to protect from the suddenly bright light.

Each step towards the dining room made her heart thump ever so slightly harder, but unbeknownst to her, Waylon heard the unfamiliar voice, and decided it was reason enough for him to get up from the table, signal the others not to follow him, and walk to the living room where the stranger was, although his wife ignored his request, closely following behind him. He didn't immediately step into view of the young man, only after he peeked past the corner and recognized him as an apparent non-threat did he take a few steps towards him and Alyssa.

At first, the concern and discomfort on her face puzzled him, but once he had a closer look at the man next to her, he immediately halted in place, his eyes growing wide, briefly considering they were deceiving him. What convinced him his sight was true was the reaction of the young man, who at first appeared to be as shocked as he was, before his face slowly scrunched into a squinty scowl, eyeing him intensely from where he stood.

Alyssa bit her lip hard, glancing around with frustration at the lack of the swarm's presence, she could feel the tension in the air, in this case, everyone could, she did her best to put on a calm friendly tone

"Waylon, Lisa.. This is our friend Billy.. He.. is from the asylu-"

"I know who you are." Billy interrupted in a dead serious voice she hadn't heard from him before, yet when he slowly stepped to the side, slightly hunching over, he moved oddly casually, barely noticeably approaching the man in front, who swallowed but stood his ground

"Yeah.. Yeah you should know me." Waylon tried to speak as neutrally as he could, discreetly pushing his wife to stand further away behind him "Didn't know you were here, I didn't expect to see you safe, but I'm glad you are, I-"

"You fucking scumbag." Billy interrupted again, his voice dripping with malice again, while the way he paced remained slow and relaxed. Every time he tossed a glance at Waylon and their eyes met, however, he could easily tell the ex-patient was not all there in some way, not that it surprised him, he knew well enough what kind of people they were working on at the asylum, but it unnerved him that one of them, especially the one deemed most important to Project Walrider, was freely pacing right in front of him and his wife while throwing him death glares.

"Yeah you know me." Billy spoke quickly then sniffled "We had the pleasure of meeting a few times a week, when I was shackled up in that ball, then you'd strut in and sit in your spot next to all the other scumbags, press a few buttons, make sure the Engine's well oiled, then wipe your hands and walk right out, until the next time." his voice rose eerily high as he finished, gesturing a walking motion with his index and middle finger.

"Billy-" Alyssa barely had time to finish saying his name when he suddenly turned to her and shouted as he took a few steps closer, making her jump and back away

" _This_ is who you need to help you kill that asshole, _another_ fucking Murkoff dog, is everyone out of their _fucking_ minds?!" he harshly poked the side of his own head, but luckily stopped closing in the distance to her. It was a relief, until she noticed Waylon over his shoulder, quickly approaching

"I _know_ this is upsetting to you but it's not like that, you gotta listen, I'm-"

That time, interrupting the man was particularly crude, as when Billy turned to face him, he did so with blinding speed and a punch to the face with so much force behind it that it nearly knocked Waylon off his feet while pushing him several steps back until he hit the wall. His wife immediately shouted his name, while Alyssa did the same for the other, but while Lisa hurried to Waylon's aid, the other woman was too afraid to approach the enraged man. A small exhale of relief left her upon noticing that Billy only resumed his slow pacing, not attempting to approach Waylon for another confrontation, who held a hand over his eye, partially suppressing a pained groan.

"This isn't what it looks like, Billy!" Alyssa cautiously raised her voice while keeping her distance, speaking quickly and hoping he would listen to reason "Waylon is _not_ Murkoff, he's as far from them as it gets, he's the one that blew the whistle on them, h-he tried to expose them and they caught him, made him go through the same horrific shit as the patients until he barely escaped with his life, he went through hell and back to get that video from the asylum, half of it is his! And now Murkoff want him and his family dead, he's just trying to help us and stay alive, dammit!"

She took a nervous breath after she finished, the way Billy watched her intensely with suspicion while and after she spoke only made her heart thump harder against her chest, and when he slowly turned his gaze towards the man, he leaned his head back and cocked it to the side, still giving him a cautious gaze through an admittedly softened scowl. A few highly tense moments passed, until Billy broke the silence, his voice still low and dead serious, but considerably less hostile, holding some disbelief

"That so, asshole?"

"Yeah.." Waylon grunted as he straightened himself away from the wall "Pretty damn accurate.."

The tension remained as Billy wordlessly rolled his shoulders, then slightly increased when he stepped into the kitchen, took a silver tray from a cabinet, not without slamming the door closed, then being followed by the parents in the dining room, where the children were sitting with puzzled and concerned faces after Lisa strictly instructed them to remain at their seats. Everyone only silently watched as he took the plates of food from an empty seat, placed them on his tray then stepped out into the living room, past Alyssa, who remained near the door way

"First those two bastards and now this" his words immediately rang her alarms, she did her best to keep her panic internal while she hoped he wasn't going to mention anything about the Pauls "What the hell's next, is fucking Trager hiding under the bed?"

"N-no, Billy, this is necessary-" she started, but he quickly shushed her

"I ain't doing this right now, no no, I've had enough, I need time to _process_ this shit." he scrunched up his face as he briefly turned to her and pointed to his temple, then returned to his room.

Once she heard the sound of the door shutting, a discreet sigh of relief left Alyssa, and she walked back to the others in the dining room, where, in the brief moment Waylon removed his hand from his eye, she could already notice the start of the swelling.

"I'll bring some ice." she spoke somewhat under her breath before heading to the kitchen.

The dinner itself proceeded as she expected, with both lingering concerns and relieves, Alyssa tried to apologize multiple times for Billy's behavior, but she was stopped by Waylon, which didn't surprise her. What did surprise her, was his wife's agreement, and the fact that she knew about Billy from her husband, including how important he was to Murkoff, how important it was to keep him away from Murkoff, what they had done to him, and, most painfully, what Waylon had to do to him while he worked at the asylum. What surprised her the most, however, was how understanding and forgiving Lisa was of the young man after what had happened with him and her husband, which made a lot more sense to Alyssa once she was informed that the woman had a degree in psychology, having the former job of helping mentally unwell people like Billy.

After dinner, she returned to her bedroom, a soft exhale leaving her as she leaned her back against the door after closing it behind her, grateful that the misunderstanding was sorted out, and hopeful that no further conflicts would occur, at least not involving Billy or physical violence.

Stepping over to the bed, she barely made contact with it before nearly jumping over it as she turned and caught sight of the dark towering figure leaning against the door, appearing to materialize mere moments after she was sure there was nothing there.

Placing a hand on her chest to calm the heavy, distressed beats of her heart, she dropped her weight on the bed "Think I've had more than enough 'excitement' for today.." she mumbled more to herself before raising her voice louder than necessary "Where the heck have you been?"

"On the balcony." he stated casually

"Do you know what Billy did? He came downstairs to dinner and saw Waylon and he _did_ recognize him, a-and punched the shit out of him."

"I saw. It was mildly entertaining."

Alyssa's shoulders slumped as she briefly looked up at him with some disbelief, before wiping it off her face, realizing his reaction was not that unexpected. Leaning back, she suppressed a yawn but allowed herself to stretch, feeling oddly comfortable, too comfortable to immediately get up. She closed her eyes for only a few moments, then suppressed a flinch upon opening them and seeing the Walrider very slowly floating towards her, without making the slightest sound

"God, you are terrifyingly quiet when you want to be.." she whispered more to herself, feeling some tension arise when he didn't stop approaching, then quickly rolled away and off the bed with a playful yelp as he lunged at her, landing on the bed by himself. Seeing as she stood next to the bed, still within reach, a squeal followed by a giggle left her as she barely dodged the clawed hand attempting to grab her and she took several quick steps back.

"I should get going.." she walked over to the dresser with a lingering smirk and picked up the boxes of cosmetics from the top of it "Lisa and I have to dye our hair."

Pausing at the door, she glanced over her shoulder, amused at the sight of the swarm leaning his head back on the bed in playful disappointment, but also aware of how appealing the sight of him laying on satin white sheets was, before she dismissed the distracting thought and left the room.


	44. Chapter 44

Spending time with Lisa as they dyed each other's hair once again gave her mixed feelings, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't push away the nagging sensation in the back of her mind insisting that they were being deceitful to the Parks by not revealing the identities of their informers.

 _The whole thing wouldn't be possible without Paul and Pauline, dammit, they have the right to know…_

As unpleasant as the guilt was, she couldn't bring herself to blurt out the truth, especially there and then, she was too afraid of the potential consequences, including the Walrider's reaction if she made such a decision all by herself. The thought made her mentally pause as she continued combing the dye through Lisa's hair, she briefly considered dismissing it before changing her mind and addressing it within herself. It was true, as much as she didn't like it, imagining his ire directed at her sent chills down her spine, she recalled how even though it felt like it had been forever since she left home that dreadful afternoon, in reality it had only been a couple of weeks, and even less since she met him, she didn't know him that well, she couldn't even really tell if he had changed at all in that time apart from treating her mildly more gently, it wasn't pleasant to accept, but she had to admit that the thought of getting on his bad side was still terrifying.

 _Then.. why the heck did you sleep with him?_

The thought came immediately after, making her discreetly shake her head at herself then doing her best to dismiss it before she began questioning her sanity again.

"Ow!" Lisa suddenly yelped when she accidentally pulled the comb too roughly through her hair, drawing her attention

"Sorry!"

"It's fine, are you okay? You've gone quiet."

Alyssa forced a brief smile "Yeah, just thinking about.. making sure everything will turn out well."

The thought crossed her mind that she couldn't afford allowing those old conflicting feelings to return and distract her, it was the wrong time and place, so she did her best to focus on the task at hand and engage in conversation with the woman.

Once both the task and the waiting time were done, she returned to her bedroom, not surprised to find it empty. In the bathroom, she carefully undressed while keeping the towel around her shoulders, careful to avoid staining, before removing the towel as well and stepping into the shower cabin. Mildly cold, she first turned on the hot water, softly sighing in delight as soon as it began traveling down her body, then turned to slide the door closed, whose glass surface was considerably frosted, allowing the visibility of silhouettes beyond it but not much else.

Removing the hair clip from the top of her head and undoing her bun, she gently began washing the dye out of her hair, making an effort to relax and keep her mind away from stressful thoughts, which was made considerably easier by the sensation of the hot water, soapy loofah and the sweet coconut scent of the shower gel.

Eventually, when she had to suppress a yawn, the realization struck her that she had spent more time than necessary under the warm stream, and thoroughly rinsed her hair one final time. Turning around to keep her head away from under the flow, she wrung as much water as she could out of her hair, but still refused to reach over to the faucet and turn it off. Instead, she brought her hair over her shoulders, placed her palms on the wall ahead and stretched her back, savoring the sensation of the hot stream flowing down her back and body.

Reflexively, she regretted delaying exiting the shower when, through the corner of her half opened eyes, she caught sight of a dark blurry silhouette on the other side of the glass, even more so as its large clawed hand pressed against it, drawing a panicked scream out of her as she scrambled to the other side of the moderately sized cabin, placing an arm across her breasts and the other over her crotch.

Even before the Walrider slid the door open and poked his head inside, she had already exhaled in relief upon realization of the silhouette's identity, relief instantly replaced by playful outrage

"Do you need something?!" her voice raised further thanks to the expression she noticed on his face, seemingly amused with a toothy grin exposing noticeably pointed canines "You think this is funny?! You scared the shite out of me!"

Once he shamelessly stepped inside the cabin, Alyssa would had taken a step back if her back wasn't already touching the cold tiled wall.

"You think I would let anyone else do this to you?" he spoke with mild amusement, taking one large step towards her, enough to place his hands on the wall she leaned against, but thanks to the height difference, she easily barely leaned down as she stepped under his arm, around him

"Oh, only you have the right to invade my privacy, huh?" she commented with playful annoyance, then halted when he turned and placed a hand on her abdomen. For whatever reason, she got the impression that something more serious had happened in her absence and required the corresponding attitude

"Alright, what happened? What did you come here to discuss that couldn't have waited?" she dismissed her amusement and craned her neck to look up at him with a mildly concerned expression, but he didn't take her latest questions into account, and the still amused look on his face only puzzled her, even more so as he spoke up

"Invade your… privacy? I am here to invade a lot more than that."

His words promptly increased the temperature in her cheeks, she didn't want to admit how quickly she thought she figured out what he meant before she dismissed the thought and continued to act confused.

"What do you mean?.." she suppressed a smirk as he placed his hands on the wall she leaned against, this time near her sides, low enough to block her in, while the shower faucet turned off seemingly by itself, shutting off the water stream

"In certain situations, I am not good at… being discreet." his words puzzled her, but when he leaned ever so slightly closer and she felt something brush against her skin, her eyes widened at the sight of his fully erect cock lightly poking her stomach. More out of reflex, she attempted to take a step back before being reminded that she was already pressing against the wall. Trying to ignore both the warmth in her cheeks and the smug look on his face, she cleared her throat and pushed herself to speak up as she glanced to the side

"And I'm going to need to be able to walk properly.."

She barely finished her sentence and already felt the grip of his hands under his thighs lifting her off her feet, pushing her against the wall; just when she reached up to place her hands over his neck for support, she gasped as he pulled her legs up over his shoulders instead and pressed tighter against her, squeezing her between the wall and his hard body as the underside of his cock rudely intruded between her folds. She opened her mouth, more in shock and embarrassment at the position she was pinned in than anything, only to have her breathing partially restricted by his hand quickly grasping around her neck tighter than she was ready for

"There you are…" he spoke almost in a growl, low but with wicked delight, and she dared glance up with a faux innocent but genuinely confused look "That side of you, that lusty little pervert that took so long to surface before."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Alyssa did her best to suppress her smirk and craned her neck to look down as much as his hand would allow, although she couldn't hide the amusement and playfulness in her voice "That must've been the stress talking."

"Stress?" the way he spoke made it obvious that he did not believe her, and she wondered if she truly chose her words wisely when he suddenly removed his hand from around her throat only to shove two fingers in her mouth and grab her jaw tightly with the rest, drawing a surprised, half muffled yelp out of her, while his other hand moved to her breast, lightly pinching her nipple before squeezing the soft flesh "Then let us _unwind_ , shall we?"

A partly nervous, partly aroused exhale left her as she slid her tongue along his fingers, surprised herself at how quickly she got used to the sensation, and even more so, at how she somewhat enjoyed it, despite not knowing why; she tightened her lips around them and gently sucked, which she immediately thought she regretted when she caught a glimpse of him curiously cocking his head to the side, she was still too lucid to let go of inhibitions, as much as she would've preferred otherwise.

A small moan left her at the feeling of his shaft sliding up and down between her nether lips as he slowly began rocking his hips against hers, but despite the heat in her face and loins, the rest of her began feeling cold after being interrupted from the long soak in hot water and pressed against the cold tiled wall, so she made a muffled sound, glancing to the faucet, prompting him to remove his fingers from her mouth and placing his hand under her ass for more support, claws lightly sinking into her flesh

"I'm cold.." she spoke in a breathy whisper, and almost immediately the warm water resumed its flow over them, but her gasp was interrupted as he took advantage of it to fill her mouth with his tongue instead, drawing another muffled, half surprised moan from her. Feeling herself warm up especially in her nether regions as his cock slid between her lips with increased ease thanks to her slickness, she felt brave enough to kiss him back and tangle her tongue against his with as much of a smirk as she could while she allowed her hands to roam his chiseled chest and abdomen.

When he slithered his tongue out of her mouth, a strand of saliva stretched between them, landing on her breast and getting washed away by the water "You like having your mouth full?" he asked teasingly, but didn't expect her immediate breathy reply

"Only with you."

At first, the way her words made his smirk drop and his hand shoot up to grab her tightly around the neck again as a low growl left him frightened her, some of that fear vanishing with the sudden feeling of the tip of his cock pressing against her entrance, but being met with resistance, enough that it made him cease his attempt and recollect himself. It then struck Alyssa that he wasn't angry, only severely horny, and her words only added to that, to the point that he had to make an effort to not forcefully impale her on his cock in one swift move.

Despite being well aware that she'd be playing with fire, she couldn't help herself, she curled her lips into a smirk drunken with arousal and spoke in a soft teasing tone

"What's the matter, big spooky guy, losing some of that control?"

She instantly wished she had reconsidered her decision before speaking as he paused, then dropped her legs from over his shoulders, still holding her by the throat, but from nearly a foot away while eyeing her down, some of the arousal washing away quickly, reminding her of how terrifying his face was.

"I-I'm sorry…" her voice trembled more than her hands as she raised them to his own on her throat, before he grabbed them both with the other and pinned them above her head. His fingers gave her neck a brief tighter squeeze then began slowly traveling down, his claws barely scraping the surface of her skin, and when they reached her breast, she leaned forward with a pout, wanting to feel more than a teasing caress, only for his hand to retract in response. With eyes growing wide, she watched as it moved to his cock and he began idly stroking it as he stared at her, and the realization of what he was doing struck her

"Oh no…" she whispered more to herself, gently smacking her head back against the wall "God dammit, what have I done." a frustrated but amused smirk stretched on her lips, seeing herself in that position.

The aching emptiness in her pussy made its presence increasingly bothersome, her clit growing so sensitive to the point that the stray drops of water landing on it being pleasurable enough to draw her attention and give her an idea. Slowly, she turned her hips in the direction of the water flow, relishing in the massage it offered on her sensitive bits, but only for a few moments, as he quickly took the opportunity to land a hard slap on her ass, drawing a squeal out of her and immediately making her press her hips flat against the wall again, the cold tiles helping to soothe the stinging feeling. If his cock could throb at the punishment inflicted and her reaction to it, it would've.

Just when she was about to whine, she silenced herself as his hand slowly returned, gently rolling her nipple between his fingers, far too gently for her liking at the time, then began sliding down her abdomen with encouraging pressure, raising her hopes the closer it reached to her groin, only to crush them all when his hand dropped to his side the moment it arrived near her folds.

At that, she didn't hold back her protest anymore, she whined and made a futile effort to pull her wrists from under his grasp. He only patiently waited for her little tantrum to be over, she quieted down but kept a needy gaze on him

"I can do this all day." he spoke with renewed amusement, his words surprising her at first, before she put on the mask of a sad but submissive frown, hiding the playfulness behind it.

His hand rose to her cheek, this time she was surprised that he appeared to show her some mercy as he caressed the soft hot skin, albeit not the type of mercy she needed at the time. As his hand slowly began descending, her hopes ascended, until she reminded herself to expect just another tease. Instead of more frustration, however, a yelp left her as he roughly wrapped his fingers around her throat and an invisible force grabbed her ankles, lifting her legs up enough for him to clench his hand under her knees and pin them at her side while pressing his body against hers.

Despite the discomfort, the exposed position only made her more aroused, especially thanks to how he took a few moments to take in the sight of her, she grasped onto his wrist gripped around her neck before clearing her throat

"Does it get you off, you bastard?" she spoke with a mix of playfulness and lust "Doing these things to me?"

He leaned closer, the feeling of his hard shaft pressing against her folds and clit distracting her further

"It does." his tip slid up against her entrance "And judging by the throb in your pussy, it affects you similarly."

At that, she bit her smirking lip and moved a hand over her eyes in a moment of embarrassing lucidity, it was true, she kept feeling the emptiness inside her pulsate in excitement and eager need to be filled.

Whatever shame she felt was quickly replaced with the alertness of pain as without warning, he buried as much of his cock into her as it would fit, the sudden, rather forceful intrusion evoking a stinging sensation from her stretched walls, and she caused herself a dose of pain herself by accidentally biting her lip too hard in reaction. She wasn't surprised, he was still too big for her and her hole too unused, but she grit her teeth and bared it.

To some relief, he placed her legs back over his shoulders and supported her with one hand under her ass while she did her best to hold onto the arm he snaked around her back. He didn't start fast, nor slow enough that she could easily take it, she made an effort to relax her nether muscles as best she could and allow him to slide in and out with less pain for her, when she glanced down and saw the slickness on his cock, she realized there wasn't any issue of a lack of it, it was only an issue of space.

Despite the gradually decreasing pain, she was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain her grip on his arm as each stroke drove the head of his cock into her core, pressing against the sensitive spot at the bottom of her pussy, drawing pleased mewls out of her and the occasional hiss at the lingering stinging sensation of her stretched tunnel. Before she felt ready, he took the liberty of digging his claws into her flesh for more grip, then increasing his pace, not only faster but harder, slamming his hips into hers as if trying to burrow more of his cock into her sheath with a pleased rumble.

It wasn't long until he noticed her discomfort, so he reluctantly eased into slower, longer strokes, allowing her tunnel to loosen up, mainly because that would allow him to take her the way he liked, to pound into her hard and fast without her screaming in pain to stop. Taking advantage of the break given, she made an effort to clasp her hands behind his neck and partially lift herself off his shaft, pulling him into a sloppy kiss, then not bothering to suppress a moan when she slipped back lower, deeper onto his cock.

"Do you.." she lost her breathy voice as she ran her fingers down his chest and over his abdomen "Sometimes I wonder…" she briefly wrapped her fingers around his girth before it entered her nearly fully again, pulling away her palm covered in her own slickness that she ran over his abs, making them shiny before the water washed off her wetness "Do you ever realize how fucking hot you are?"

She spoke drunk with arousal as she threw a glance up at him between her lashes, but judging by the silence and curious tilt of his head to the side, the answer to her question was a resounding 'no'.

Her partly playful, partly lewd smirk quickly vanished when, without warning, he began pounding into her harder and faster, her lips parted with a series of small moans, feeling her orgasm beginning to sneak up on her

He grabbed a rough handful of her breast, mildly increasing the harsh pace further "If you need me to fuck your little cunt harder, all you have to do is say so, don't try to 'seduce' me."

Even through the moans, a laughter managed to leave Alyssa "I'm not.. trying to.. but it's true-oh.. ah, fuck!" another giggle left her, never before had she found herself torn between laughing and moaning, the former being somewhat difficult as he continued driving his cock in and out of her with considerable ease thanks to her slick canal loosening up as much as it could, ready and able to take the abuse.

Her amusement was quickly cut down by the increasing heat between her legs while her jaw dropped open with a string of moans, her body rocking between his and the wall, and her breasts bouncing with each powerful thrust driven into her core. Before she knew it, her pussy involuntarily began clenching onto his shaft as she felt her peak dangerously close, her toes curled in the air and her nails dug into his forearm and shoulder.

The realization that the warm water flowing over them was only overheating her further also crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it, partly because she figured she could take it until it was over, and mostly because she didn't want to think about anything other than the blissful feeling of his cock ramming into her hard and heavy, the brief thought that she would most likely be sore in the morning struck her, but for reasons she didn't understand, it only made her more aroused

"Are-.. are yo-" she struggled to speak between rapid thrusts that, to her mild disappointment, significantly slowed so she could speak more easily "Are you going to fuck me until I'm hurting again?"

She glanced up at him with a look of lewd desire that would've made his cock throb if he still had blood running through his veins, it still drew a low growl from him that made her mouth open playfully and he made an effort to resist shoving his fingers in it again and hold her by the jaw while he fucked her

"Yes, yes I am, I'm going to break your pussy, then fix it so I can break it over and over again."

It was more than satisfying to see the smirk on her lips drop, especially accompanied by the involuntary throb of her walls against his cock and the feeling of her muscles weakening, he couldn't help but find it both amusing and arousing how she'd try to talk dirty to him only to become putty in his hands once he talked back.

With no warning, he gradually but rapidly increased his pace, pumping into her viciously again and drawing a string of moans mixed with cusses from her

"J-jesus fuck!" she struggled to speak again, but this time he didn't slow, already partially high from the dopamine in her brain and craving the full dose from her orgasm "If some unholy t-tragedy ever happens and I have to have sex with someone else, I'd never be able to get over the disappointment, the poor bastard."

She couldn't help but whimper in a bizarrely delightful mix of arousal and fear at his borderline demonic chuckle "Rest assured, that will never happen."

The thought crossed her mind of how she used the word "unholy" without thinking twice about it to describe herself being with a human man, while she was being fucked silly by something most people would deem "unholy" and loving every second of it, she was too busy moaning to laugh, but it did amuse her in a lewd fashion, and she couldn't chalk it up to her mind being hazy with arousal, she knew the thought would do nothing but turn her on even if she was fully lucid.

Her focus on the increasing tightness in her pussy before her orgasm hit her was suddenly interrupted by the knock on the door

"Alyssa?" the familiar female voice followed immediately after, dismissing the possibility that her mind was playing tricks on her

"Ah, shit! Stop!" she spoke with irritation and hesitation, the Walrider slowed down considerably but didn't stop moving entirely

"Ignore it!" the annoyance in his voice was clearer than in hers

"I fucking wish I could but what if it's important, what if Billy said something stupid, what if he told them about the Pauls, or what if they changed their mind?! I have to check!" Alyssa spoke hurriedly as she pushed against his abdomen, feeling the rumble of displeasure vibrating in his chest.

With noticeable hesitation, he did let her go; a whimper of discontent left her at the feeling of emptiness after he slid his cock out of her and placed her down on her feet, she rushed out of the shower cabin, goosebumps raising on her skin at the cold-by-comparison air outside after being heated up in more than one way.

Mostly failing to stop the cussing under her breath, she hurriedly grabbed a towel, wrapped it around herself and tossed a glance behind in the shower cabin. The sight of the towering entity standing under the water that continuously flowed over each sculpted muscle with his cock at attention, still coated in her juices, threatened to make her forget any urgency to check on Lisa, especially when he clasped his hands behind his neck and leaned against the wall

"Oh, you bastard!" she couldn't catch herself before the words slipped out, dripping of frustration and desire, which only increased when he laughed with satisfaction at the effect he had on her.

Pushing herself to turn away, she hurriedly left the bathroom, ignoring the lingering pulsation of her walls from the proximity of her lost orgasm, and uncaring of her wet hair nor the water it was dripping on the floor.

She forced a smile before swinging the door open, the fast manner in which she did it, along with the sight of her in only a towel and her hair soaking wet took Lisa off guard

"Oh, you were showering, sorry for interrupting-"

Alyssa wasn't sure if she had finished her sentence before interrupting her herself "It's fine! What is it?" it took considerable effort to keep the smile on her face and her tone semi-normal, the slow manner in which the woman spoke and the dismissive flick of her wrist only adding to her frustration

"Just wanted to ask if it's okay with you if we take some sand out of the decorative fountain near the pool to dry and put it in a box as a makeshift kitty litter for Peanut? Just to have something temporary before disaster strikes." Lisa chuckled, and Alyssa's forced laughter was devoid of amusement as her eye twitched

"Sure, not a problem!"

"Alright, I'll see you late-" the last word barely managed to leave the woman's lips before the door was closed in her face, and the second they couldn't see each other anymore, the forced smile dropped from Alyssa's face, replaced by needy frustration.

Without a moment wasted, she rushed back to the bathroom, dropped the towel on the floor, and as soon as she was within reach of the Walrider, he roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shower, pressing her face against the wall. At first she squealed in surprise at the sudden impolite manhandling, but the feeling of her breasts and face against the cool tiles of the wall nicely balanced the high temperature of the water flowing down her body.

With renewed shamelessness, her lips stretched into a lewd smirk at the sight of him moving behind her and the feeling of his claws on her hips, angling them up, her walls pulsing with eagerness to be stretched again.

Several moments of nothing happening later, the problem he had behind her unraveled to her as well when she felt the tip of his cock poke above her lower back before he suddenly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up, high enough that she felt the tip positioned at her entrance, then lowered her down, impaling her on his shaft. She let out an approving moan, but as satisfying as the feeling of being stuffed to the brim again was, she still found discomfort in being held tightly by the waist with no support under her feet.

Just several thrusts later, it became evident that it wasn't going to work, especially as she placed her hands on the wall only to have them slip, and what little support she could get from placing her feet on his knees was too unsteady, she could do nothing but grip onto his wrists as he bounced her on his cock, but as arousing as it was, the sharp claws dug into her waist as he lifted her with each heavy thrust was too uncomfortable, she had to shake her head and urge him to stop, which he hesitantly did

"T-the footrest in the bedroom-" she spoke urgently, and almost immediately a swarm of nanites flew out of the bathroom, bringing back the black leather ottoman footstool, placing it right under her.

Once her feet found stable support on it, she barely had the time to breathe a sigh of relief when he already started pounding into her again, not even needing to exit her while the problem was being solved. Having no other support for her hands, however, she gripped onto his wrists as tightly as she could while his own hands gripped her hips, claws digging into soft flesh, causing mild pain that was easily drowned out by the sensation of his velvety but solid hips slamming against her ass, and much more so by the increasingly blissful feeling of his cock ramming the depths of her pussy.

As the heat built up inside her and her climax began announcing its return with alarming speed, she began finding it difficult to stand up, allowing herself to lean forward against the wall, pressing her face and breasts against it partly for the support, partly for the refreshing coolness. The thought crossed her mind to reach over to the shower faucet and turn off the flowing hot water, but the involuntary clench of her walls on his shaft as her orgasm knocked on the door swiftly changed her mind, managing to realize the noise the running water made would mask her own in case someone was nearby outside and she couldn't muffle herself well enough.

"Yes-yes-yes- don't stop." she barely managed to whisper coherently to herself on the brink of climax, he didn't think he could stop, even if he was cruel enough to try

"Look at me." his demand brought back a sliver of shame, which was partly to blame for her hesitation, plus her desire to reach her peak, her attention was swiftly made to return to him when he dug a hand into her hair "You're going to look at me when I fuck you, when you come undone."

And undone she came with those words, she could only obey for a few moments, glancing up over her shoulder at the wicked grin he sported, before the blissful blast of ecstasy erupted within her, spreading through her body up to the tips of her fingers, overheating her further under the water. Water which, to some relief, helped to mask the cries of pleasure that she couldn't manage to suppress or muffle with her hands that were still busy trying to maintain a grip on his wrists while he continued pumping inside her with increasingly slow thrusts. She would've flinched if she still had the strength when he smacked his head against the wall above hers with a deep satisfied chuckle, more than content with the dose of chemicals that flooded her brain upon climax, and when he stopped moving inside her, her moans and mewls along with her peak finally ended as well, replaced by her heavy breathing.

It took considerable effort to reach over to the faucet and turn off the water, and after she did so, she heard the somewhat heavy, gravelly breathing sounds from him above her; despite not being able to get physically exerted, breathing was a remnant of having a corporeal body that occasionally occurred, lingering like an old habit

"Fuck me…" she whispered more to herself as she took unsteady steps out of the shower, trying to ignore the still cramping muscles in her legs

"Now, again?" the Walrider spoke with eagerness that raised alarms even in her hazy mind

"No! That is not- that is like a figure of speech, it means.." Alyssa interjected quickly, nearly slipping as she grabbed a towel and clumsily patted herself somewhat dry "Like.. god damn, the only thing I like more than hearing your heavy breathing is hearing your heavy breathing above me after I've come undone."

It took some noticeable effort to get her words out as the post-climax arousal wore off, she noticed the heat in her cheeks as well, and when she heard the deep chuckle in response, with a hint of an echo, she wasn't sure if it caused her goosebumps or the room temperature after being overheated in the shower for so long was to blame.

After patting her hair as dry as she could, she grabbed a white bath robe that she loosely wrapped around herself as she nearly tripped on the way out of the bathroom before allowing herself to fall on the bed and passing out within minutes.

* * *

It was nearly noon when Alyssa felt the silky sensation of a clawed hand on her bare shoulder, gently shaking her awake

"Alyssa, wake up." the Walrider's voice briefly frightened her before more of her conscious mind and memory came back as she awoke. With a pleased purr and smile, she tried to wrap her arms over his neck, both hungry to feel more of the velvety sensation on her bare skin and wanting to pull him in bed with her

"You might want to be awake for this. Pauline's here." his words almost immediately made her freeze then slowly open her eyes while her smile faded

"Wha.. oh.. God, no.." with some clumsiness that was quickly washed away by the concern along with any sleepiness, she hurriedly wrapped the bath robe around herself better before leaving the bedroom.

With only a hand combing some of her messy hair into place and a quick glance over her shoulder to confirm that the Walrider was still floating behind her, she swallowed and increased her pace to the living room, stopping in the doorway once she reached it.

Waylon and Lisa sat on one sofa, the man holding his wife's hand whose forehead rested in her other hand, her now light blonde hair obscuring her face, while Pauline leaned back in the opposing armchair, the slightest hint of a smirk visible on her lips. The grim look on Waylon's face wasn't a surprise, neither was his wife's reaction, Alyssa expected something similar when the Parks found out who their informants were, but it didn't make it any less unpleasant.

"Nice of you to join us." Pauline spoke casually, nodding to the sofa next to her.

Alyssa hesitantly took a seat, not daring to look at the couple, her eyes aiming at the small black suitcase on the coffee table in front of the agent "Why.. are you here?"

"Because there's been some further developments." Pauline's voice was louder and more serious, before she returned it to a more nonchalant tone "Plus, I'm here for some last day.. uh, second to last day, details? But before we get to that.." she nodded towards the Parks "Maybe you have something to say to them? We explained to them why I have to help you and why I can't afford screwing you over, but even so.. They don't look so good."

The smirk she flashed drew a scowl on Alyssa's face that vanished when she turned to the couple

"I don't really have anything to say, apart from the obvious.. I'm sorry." she spoke softly but with an air of certainty "We didn't have much of a choice, the only people who would know enough about Murkoff to help us fight them are people from the inside."

A few tense moments of silence passed before Lisa exhaled deeply, and when she raised her head from her hand, seeing her lightly shake it raised her concerns

"Normally, this would be.. far too much. I would be running for the hills and never stopping."

Her words, however, gave Alyssa pause, she raised an eyebrow "Normally? What do you mean?"

Waylon's shoulders raised then lowered with a relieved exhale "It's been on the news earlier this morning, people are coming forward and pressing charges against Murkoff, parents, siblings, friends of the patients, you name it, there's finally more voices speaking against them, real voices, taking real, legal action."

"And as great as that is, even more importantly.." Lisa interjected "When Alex woke up this morning, he could feel his legs in some parts, he can already even wiggle his toes now…" the woman threw a discreet quick glance at the Walrider standing behind Alyssa then gently shook her head "We can't leave, he's only gonna get better, we can't afford to leave.. Even despite this woman." Pauline didn't mind the distrustful glance she received next.

Alyssa could hardly believe what she was hearing, earlier when she woke up and found out Pauline was in the apartment she considered it could be a nightmare, now it felt almost too good to be true, a wide smile stretched on her lips

"My God, that is just so great to hear, thank you, and the trial? I almost can't believe it, finally some good news."

"Alright, are we done here?" Pauline interjected nonchalantly "Can we go back to business?"

Alyssa cleared her throat "Right, sure.. After you."

The agent leaned forward and opened the small suitcase on the table "Now…" From it, she pulled a silver tube in the shape of a toothpaste container, only noticeably thinner "That dress, it shows skin, doesn't it?"

Alyssa blinked with some confusion "Uh, I think? Honestly, I didn't look much in the boxes apart from the masks, why?"

"Where are they then? Take me to them."

Alyssa stood up and began leading her to her bedroom, then paused in the doorway when the agent loudly clasped her hands together "You too, everyone, come with us."

With some hesitation, the Parks followed them, while the Walrider shadowed Alyssa, not allowing Pauline in the same room as his host without him.

In the bedroom, Alyssa lined up the boxes on the bed for Pauline, who pulled out the two dresses and unfolded them over the covers, revealing the way they would expose the back and part of the chest

"Yeah, as expected.." Pauline mumbled thoughtfully more to herself then snapped her fingers and turned to Lisa "You, do you have any visible scars? Birth marks? Anything the dress wouldn't cover?"

The woman took a few moments to examine the dress before shaking her head "No.. Nothing I can think of."

"You then." Pauline turned to Alyssa "That tube I left on the table, it's a masking substance used for espionage, apply it over your scars and in a few minutes it'll form a sort of second skin to hide them under, you can just peel it off later."

She nodded slowly, then spoke up when the woman stepped to the boxes and pulled the two pairs of boots out of them, both with narrow high heels

"We have to wear that? I don't know about Lisa but can I find something more flat, easier on the feet?"

Pauline's shoulders rose then dropped with a mildly annoyed exhale that was noticeable in her tone as well " _No?_ It's part of the whole reason why I'm here, these are good enough, you have to wear these so it will mask any height difference between you two and Lydia and Susannah." she threw a quick glance at Lisa "You're both not an exact match of their height so the heels are going to mask that, no one's gonna look down at your feet and start measuring if everything adds up, they're just gonna see heels and forget about any discrepancy."

"Great.." Alyssa mumbled with some frustration to herself, while Lisa nodded, and she had to admit, seeing the focus on her face was somewhat encouraging and relieving, she was willing to work with the Murkoff agent and paid attention to her instructions.

Waylon crossed his arms, throwing a glance at the Walrider who was mostly staring into space, seemingly bored, despite paying attention as well; the man opened his mouth to speak, but Pauline did so before him, answering his unspoken question

"As for you, mister Waylon." his eyebrows lightly furrowed at his former colleague while she spoke, still finding it somewhat unbelievable that she was the one helping them "You're _roughly_ there, obviously the flat men's shoes aren't gonna help you but your extra inch or so compared to Caleb shouldn't be noticeable."

"Right.." Waylon mumbled more to himself

"Now, as for _you…"_ Pauline took a step towards the Walrider, and Alyssa didn't know why she found it mildly amusing how his shoulders slumped and the distance at which he floated above the floor slightly lowered as he looked away "Vincent Miller is not fucking six foot nine, so when the time comes you better work that magic of yours and make yourself six foot nothing, just like him, is that clear?"

The swarm only grumbled in acknowledgement before an invisible force pushed Pauline to take a step back.

"For transport, you're gonna take a taxi and drive to this exact location where you'll be picked up by the limo." the agent handed a folded piece of paper to Alyssa, revealing to be a marked location on the map once unraveled "The driver I hired is pretty much clueless, just like we want, he's gonna get a hefty sum of clean cash in return for taking you where we need without asking questions; and I marked the times on the back of the map, you should get there not much later than nine in the evening."

"Alright, everything's set then?" Waylon spoke once Pauline stopped and appeared hesitant to continue.

The agent shook her head and signaled everyone to follow her back in the living room, where she securely closed her briefcase before picking it up

"The last thing.. I gotta be honest" she glanced to the sofa but didn't sit, appearing mildly uneasy "I didn't think it was worth discussing, but Paul insisted you should know anyway."

"The more we know, the better, out with it." Waylon crossed his arms as he eyed his former colleague, whose demeanor changed to somewhat frustrated

"Ugh, I didn't want to brief you on this because we basically have nothing concrete, all we know is that there's some sort of 'special' VIP invitations that only some of the guests received, we don't know their names, their backgrounds, anything they have in common, nothing, okay? It's pointless to think about with no clues, but my partner insisted to tell you anyway, so there. If these VIP invitations are something fishy, there's a chance we could find more about them on Frazier's laptop, once we decrypt it eventually, I don't know."

Her arms briefly raised to her sides before dropping with a shrug, she began walking towards the door, then halted when the Walrider floated in front of her

"What are the chances of convincing Frazier to decrypt his device for us?"

Pauline gave him a somewhat uneasy look "You can torture him all you like, chances are he's not gonna do it, obviously since he'd be as good as dead if what's on that laptop gets out; even if you convince him that you only need the dirty footage of Blaire and you're gonna edit it to take Frazier out of it, he's not gonna trust you."

"It is worth a try." the Walrider suggested, but Pauline spoke strictly with an undertone of annoyance

"No, no it is not, what it is is a waste of time, just bring the laptop to me and Paul, we'll decrypt it, it will take us some time but we'll do it."

"Once we bring it here, that device will not leave this building, Pauline, you will work on it here."

She exhaled quickly with noticeable anger "I forgot how annoying it is when people don't listen to your orders that are in their best interest… Fine! Fine, bring it here, keep it here, it'll only take us more time to crack it since obviously Paul and I can't stay here for long."

A light scowl grew on Waylon's face "Orders? We're not your Murkoff subordinates, we're not gonna shut up and do your damn bidding, this is our lives we're risking here, my _family's_ lives, so calm down."

Pauline reckoned not taking orders from her without questions was more or less understandable on second thought, but once he mentioned his family, her eye twitched, it struck a chord within her

"Firstly, you have _no_ idea what kind of pressure I'm under, between staying undercover at Murkoff and gathering intel and prepping you for killing my colleagues, so fucking pardon me for not having more patience." she made an effort to not raise her voice and took a deep breath "Secondly, do I have to remind you _why_ I'm doing this? You're not the only ones whose lives are at stake, god dammit, do you know how many containment breaches we've had at Mount Massive? How many people were kill-"

"The fucking doctors and guards that were keeping everything under wraps while torturing those people? Really, is that what you're getting at?" Waylon interrupted the woman, only making it more difficult for her to keep her already heated temper from rising further

"No, that is _not_ what I'm getting it, if you would shut up and let me talk, I was getting at everything we lost during containment breaches, not just lives, information as well, destroyed or fallen in the wrong hands!" She briefly pointed to the Walrider, who didn't react in any way "When this bastard broke free, he got in our computers, our files, he knows where my mother and fiancé live, he's going to _gut_ them if I don't do everything he says, do you understand?"

Waylon didn't bother trying to keep his voice down "Well I'm fucking sorry but it's hardly the same, is it? You're the one that willingly works for Murkoff, knowing damn well what they do, you dug your own grave! My family doesn't deserve this, I'm not saying yours does, dammit, but it's not the same, for one, you could just take your folks and move them without him finding out, and there, done deal, he's got no leverage against you anymore!"

Pauline lowered her head as she shook it slowly "That wouldn't work, I'm far from the best or only detective at Murkoff, he could just find someone else, threaten them, use them in similar ways, use them to find me."

At that, Waylon's expression slightly softened, he breathed a deep exhale.

"Please, calm down, this isn't going to help anyone." Alyssa took a hesitant step between them, turning to Pauline, and spoke softly "Is there anything else?"

"No." she quickly replied and began walking towards the door before Alyssa stopped her by raising a hand

"Thank you for all your help, I do realize more lives are at stake here, and you have my sympathies, for whatever little they're worth. Can I get you a drink before leaving?"

Pauline silently watched her for a few moments, then her expression and temper softened with a deep sigh "Fine, some brandy, if you would be so kind." she spoke more calmly, Alyssa walking over to the bar and returning with a glass of the requested drink that the woman took and drank on the way to the penthouse doors.

Pauline left after any minor details were discussed and questions answered, and once she did, the relief was noticeable in the Parks, both from their body language and tone of voice

"Alyssa, could I have that DVD for Waylon and I to look at?" Lisa asked taking a small step towards her

"Of course, I'll probably be joining you guys in a bit after I get ready, if you don't mind." she led the woman to her room, admittedly relieved that once Pauline was gone, things appeared to return to what normalcy they could

"Sure, I took a few acting classes in college but don't expect much.." her words faded upon noticing the Walrider following them inside the bedroom, a chuckle leaving Alyssa before she continued under her breath "From me.."

"Don't worry about it." she handed her the DVD, and the reassuring smile accompanied by the encouraging words made her flash a smile as well "We'll make it, we have to."

When she stepped to leave, even with Lisa's back turned, Alyssa could notice her uneasiness as she walked out, thanks to the Walrider floating too close to the door, and once they were alone, she let a smirk show on her lips

"Stop creeping people out, will you.." she spoke with amusement as she stepped over to the bed to sort out the somewhat messy covers. As she grabbed them and spread them out neatly, the Walrider didn't make a sound while floating towards her, but she squealed in surprise when he shoved her forward, making her fall on the bed.

"I cannot help my very presence being.. unsettling, to humans."

A playful laughter left her when he wrapped his arms around her from behind before she could get up, trapping her in a spooning position, but her giggling died down at the feeling of one of his hands pulling her bath robe down her shoulder, while the other snaked between her thighs, too close to her mildly but noticeably sore sex.

"W-wait, don't!" she felt the grip around her loosen slightly "I'm.. a bit sore, you're not going anywhere near there anytime soon."

A chuckle left her upon hearing and feeling the grumpy disappointed rumble in his chest, followed by his grip loosening enough to allow her to slip out of it and hop off the bed

"Don't blame me, maybe if you hadn't fucked me like an animal I'd be okay right now."

Only when he curiously tilted his head to the side at her, with a surprised but pleased smirk at her words did she realize what she had spoken out loud, a hint of red quickly appearing on her cheeks, she swiftly turned away and hurriedly walked to the armchair where she left her clothes before continuing in a weak voice, almost in a whisper "You.. didn't hear that."

His echoey chuckle was more proof that he did, she ignored the few hairs it rose on the back of her neck as she bit her lip and took her clothes into the bathroom to dress up.

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 **Thanks for reading, please remember to comment/review if you enjoyed since it is the main thing that keeps me going.**


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